Almost half of Hungarians oppose EU sanctions against Russia

Budapest, February 1 (MTI) – Almost half of Hungarians oppose the European Union’s sanctions against Russia, while one-third of them support the measure, according to a fresh survey by the Nézőpont Institute commissioned by the daily Magyar Idők.

Fully 47 percent of Hungarians are against the Russia sanctions, while 33 percent are in favour of them, the survey released on Wednesday showed.

The sanctions are mostly opposed by government sympathisers, with 58 percent of them expressing a negative opinion about the measure. As many as 51 percent of self-declared left-wing voters are also against the sanctions, the survey revealed. Supporters of the radical nationalist Jobbik party, however, were divided on the issue, with 47 percent in favour of and 47 percent against the sanctions.

Nézőpont also found that 63 percent of respondents viewed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming visit to Budapest as a positive, while 20 percent saw it in a negative light.

The phone survey was carried out on January 20-23 with a sample of 1,000 adults.

Putin is paying an official visit to Hungary on February 2.

Source: MTI