Steven N.Hungarians are not particularly interested in the war taking place in Ukraine, and do not sympathize much with the besieged Ukrainians, according to a new Eurobarometer poll taken in the 27 EU Member States.
Regarding how frequently they follow the news of the war in Ukraine, only 30% of respondents from Hungary stated that they follow it regularly. This was the fourth-lowest proportion of all EU countries, with only Slovenia, France, and Belgium showing less interest.
The poll also found that only 34% of Hungarians “totally agreed” with the statement “I feel sympathy towards Ukrainians,” which was the lowest percentage among all 27 EU countries. On the other end was Sweden, with 79% of respondents in total agreement with the statement. [Azonnali]
What a sad article. I still remember playing with Hungarian refugee children from 1956 on South Side of Chicago (in 1956 and/or 1957). Europe -as our editor knows- and the US and Canada opened their doors to the 1956 refugees (unlike-1939-45-where many of my Jewish Hungarian relatives found that most borders were closed to them; many subsequently were murdered). Empathy and truth are casualties of the regime control of most major media. Hopefully, we will not live to see Russian tanks crossing into Hungary-again. Hungarians might find that other Europeans might not care.
Maybe the diversity of opinions in Hungary in comparison with the uniform anti-Russian, pro-NATO stance of more western public opinion is just proof of the contrary, maybe it is proof that the media landscape in Hungary allows for more diverse opinions, like in the rest of the world that is much less polarized as the „West“.
And regarding Hungarian-Ukraine relationship, don’t forget that the Hungarian minority in Ukraine has long been suffering from discrimination at the hand of the ethno-nationalists in power in Kyev since 2014 (among others)