A new milestone is fast approaching in Hungary's complex relationship with the European Union. On Oct. 2, Hungarian voters will decide in a referendum whether to accept an EU plan to redistribute asylum seekers across the Continent. The European Commission originally proposed the idea in late 2015 to alleviate the burden migration has placed on countries such as Greece and Italy. But so far it has largely failed in the face of members' decision to ignore it, and only a handful of asylum seekers have actually been relocated.
The Hungarian referendum, to a great extent, is more the result of political calculation at home than an attempt to shutter a plan that was not being enforced in the first place. The government in Budapest is hoping to increase its popular appeal and cast itself as a defender of the country's sovereignty, identity and security. But the show Budapest is putting on...
