People have spoken: 2/3 of Hungarians would introduce the euro

Support for Hungary’s membership of the EU is stable at over 70% in the country. According to those polled, the EU nowadays stands mostly for the protection of democracy and the rule of law, for working and learning in the EU and for improving the living standards of EU citizens. A two-thirds majority backs the introduction of the euro.

Policy Solutions study

The level of knowledge about the European Union is a significant determinant of the level of support for EU membership among Hungarians. According to a study published by Policy Solutions on Wednesday, the results of the EU knowledge test show that the higher the level of knowledge, the higher the proportion of pro-EU and the lower the proportion of those who are undecided on the HUXIT issue.

Main disadvantages of EU membership

Hungarians see membership of the EU as beneficial primarily for financial reasons. According to them, the main disadvantages of EU membership are excessive regulation, weakening of national sovereignty, migration, freezing of EU funds, sanctions policy.

The majority of Hungarians think Hungary receives more money from the EU budget than it pays in. However, 36% of those polled think Hungary has become a net contributor. The proportion of those who think Hungary is a net contributor to the EU budget has increased by 7 percentage points by 2023 compared to two years ago, Economx writes.

Direction of the EU

Hungarian society is strongly divided on the current direction of the European Union: 44% say things are going in the right direction, 47% say they are going in the wrong direction. According to Hungarians, in 2023, the EU mostly represents the protection of democracy and the rule of law (35%), the freedom to work, study and travel within the EU (28%) and the improvement of the living standards of EU citizens (25%).

Euro introduction supported

In 2023, the EU is most expected by both government and opposition parties to represent the value of peace. 44% of respondents put peace in the top three most important values, 35% said improving the living standards of citizens, and 31% said the EU should mainly stand for democracy and the rule of law in the future.

A two-thirds majority backs the introduction of the euro.

The majority also supports Romania’s accession to Schengen and the creation of a common European army. Hungarians would spend EU funds primarily on health care and catching up disadvantaged regions. Hungarian society is open to further EU enlargement, but the majority is against Ukraine’s EU membership.

The majority of government parties also believe that all milestones should be met to access EU funds. The suspension of the Erasmus programme is dividing society.

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