Steven N.
Left-leaning Publicus Institute conducted a poll commissioned by MEP István Ujhelyi on what Hungarians think about their country’s foreign policy and relationship with other countries.
The institute interviewed 2,006 Hungarians in a nationwide, representative study between February 3-14, prior to the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine.
The key results of the poll were the following:
- 67% of those polled agreed at least somewhat with the position that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government were destroying European unity in the interests of Russian President Putin, thereby threatening the security of Europe and Hungary. Nine out of ten opposition voters felt this way, but only one in ten Fidesz voters said it was true.
- 53% said that the current foreign policy pursued by the Hungarian government primarily serves the interests of Russia. One year earlier, only a quarter of respondents agreed with this sentiment.
- 84% held peace and cooperation among Member States as very important among the EU’s values.
- 82% agreed that Hungary traditionally belongs to the West in terms of its values, and so must maintain a westward orientation.
- 71% disagreed at least somewhat that it would be in Hungary’s interest to forge closer ties to Russia and distance themselves from the European Union and the United States.
- 88% of respondents agreed at least somewhat that Hungary’s membership in NATO meant security for the country, and that cooperation in the Western defense alliance was of paramount importance.
The full results of the poll are on Publicus’ website.
[Telex]
An important post of the Publicus poll results. I suspect, given the dates that poll was conducted (prior to Russian aggression), the next poll may show even more concerns about the regime’s policies regarding Putin, NATO etc.
In any case, NATO membership will become even more important to Hungary and all countries in east/central Europe, let alone almost every other country in Europe excluding Belarus and Russia.
Spot on, Misi. And here’s the next poll, confirming your suspicions: https://hungarianpolitics.com/2022/03/08/majority-of-fidesz-supporters-say-russia-is-the-aggressor-in-ukraine/