The citizens of Hungary will have a say on whether they want Ukraine to join the European Union, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said early Friday – although the vote is non-binding and is almost certain to go against Kiev.

Speaking to reporters after an emergency summit of all 27 EU leaders in Brussels – at which Hungary was the only country to refuse to sign a joint statement in favour of arming Ukraine – Orban said his government would poll Hungarians on their support for Kiev’s EU membership.

“We have the so-called system of national consultations, which we regularly use to collect people’s opinion, so we will use the same system now, he said. Orban’s government has launched more than a dozen national consultations since 2010 on issues ranging from immigration to LGBTQ+ rights.

These are postal campaigns in which all Hungarians of voting age receive letters asking questions and inviting them to choose from a list of answers, sometimes a simple yes or no. The questions are often phrased in a leading way and the vast majority of answers tend to align with the government’s stance, according to Hungarian media, with the opposition and civil society decrying them as propaganda tools.

For example, a national consultation on EU migration policies in 2023 asked Hungarians whether they supported Brussels’ creation of migrant ghettos in Hungary. Less than 20% of Hungarians responded but 99% of those who did responded negatively. The results are not legally binding, but are used to reinforce the Orban government’s positions on divisive issues, which the majority of the electorate supports.

“For the first time Hungarians have the opportunity in Europe to decide whether or not they support Ukraine’s EU membership,” Hungarian government spokesman said early Friday.