Hungary to Hold Referendum to Make 24 December Public Holiday

The Curia of Hungary has approved the decision by the National Election Committee (Nemzeti Választási Bizottság, NVB), which accepted the petition by the right-wing opposition party Jobbik to hold a referendum on making 24 December a public holiday, thus giving Hungarians an extra day off from work.

Evidently, 25 and 26 December are already public holidays in Hungary, observing the Christian holiday of Christmas. However, the day of Christmas Eve has always been a working day for Hungarians.

The decision was published in the Hungarian Gazette on Monday evening, confirming the NVB’s May resolution and adding that the Curia did not issue a decision in which it ruled on the authentication of a question on the same subject as the referendum question under discussion in the present proceedings. The proposed referendum question submitted by the Jobbik Movement for Hungary read as follows: ‘Do you agree that the twenty-fourth of December should be a public holiday?’

Jobbik has tried such an initiative before. In 2024, they submitted a similar question, but the Curia rejected the NVB decision which allowed the party’s proposed referendum question to pass. The NVB’s decision on 13 May to validate the referendum initiative to declare 24 December a public holiday was adopted by 11 votes to 2. The proposed date of the referendum is yet to be announced.

While Hungarians will surely be happy to get an extra day off during the winter holidays, the nation also has to be careful: non-working days can hurt the country’s GDP due to reduced production.

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