Changing decision-making in areas crucial to state sovereignty would create a specific system of majority tyranny where, although it would be easier to adopt a Council position and bring together a majority of votes, political divisions would be further deepened and the democratic functioning and legitimacy of the Union as an institution would be undermined, and the long-term consequences of this would be unforeseeable in today’s already uncertain times of crisis.

Hungary’s green party, LMP vocally objects to the planned investments on environmental grounds. First, it started organising a local referendum in Debrecen on the matter. Although the party did get a green light to collect signatures for the plebiscite, it never actually began working on implementing its initiative.

The Orbán administration has committed to spending at least two per cent of the country’s GDP on defence by the end of 2024, a commitment made in 2014 by all NATO members but something many NATO countries have not yet honoured. Hungary, in fact, is set to achieve the two per cent threshold by the end of this year, before the deadline.

On Tuesday Kansas voted on an amendment that was supposed to remove abortion rights protections from its state constitution. The majority of Kansans rejected the amendment in a referendum that saw a record high turnout.

Albeit due to a low turnout the referendum was invalid, the overwhelming majority of those who cast valid votes supported the government’s position.