Story highlights Hungarian MPs reject bill that would ban EU refugee resettlement

Opposition party boycotts vote in protest of government's cash-for-residency program

(CNN) Hungary's parliament has blocked a proposal by Prime Minister Viktor Orban to bar refugees from resettling in the country.

Orban and his ruling Fidesz party had introduced the anti-migrant bill in response to the European Union resettlement plan and a specific EU quota to allow a reported 1,294 refugees to relocate to Hungary.

But radical right-wing Jobbik party politicians boycotted the vote Tuesday, leaving the proposed constitutional amendment short of the required two-thirds majority, Balint Gyorgy, deputy head of the parliament press office, told CNN.

Marton Gyongyosi, a Jobbik member of parliament, told CNN that his party -- which would normally have voted to back the amendment -- abstained from the vote because of a 2012 government initiative that essentially equates to a cash-for-residency scheme.

Jobbik firmly opposes these so-called "government bonds," which party members say are sold to foreigners who can prove they have €300,000 (just over $331,000) or more. These foreigners are then given residency in Hungary.

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