Top Hungarian court bars referendum on Chinese university plan
- It says holding a vote on the planned Fudan University campus would be ‘unconstitutional’
- Voters would have been asked if they wished to repeal a law that gave a green light to the plan
The Hungarian Constitutional Court said in a statement that holding a referendum on Fudan would be “unconstitutional”.
“According to the [constitution], a national referendum on an obligation arising from an international treaty cannot be held,” it said in the statement published on its website.
Voters would have been asked if they wished to repeal a law adopted last year by parliament – dominated by Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s right-wing Fidesz party – that gave a green light to the plan.
In a Facebook message, Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony said he would still try to find a way to “allow the residents of Budapest to have their say in the matter”.
“The majority of the court’s members had obviously fulfilled the political expectations of Fidesz,” he said.
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Thousands march in Budapest against plan to build campus for China’s Fudan University