Low voter turnout invalidates ballot on refugee quotas

Low voter turnout invalidated Hungary's referendum on European Union refugee quotas, even though citizens voted overwhelmingly in support of the government's opposition to any future, mandatory EU plans to relocate asylum seekers.

The government claimed a "sweeping victory," but analysts said that the result was an "embarrassing but not totally catastrophic defeat" for Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

"We can be proud that we are the first and so far only member state of the European Union" to hold such a referendum, Orban told supporters after the results were known. "Hungarians were able to give their direct opinions on the issue of immigration."