Survey: Hungarians still overwhelmingly against illegal migration

Budapest, August 2 (MTI) – Hungarians are still overwhelmingly against allowing migrants to enter Europe illegally, according to a survey by the Századvég Foundation released on Tuesday,

Fully 90 percent of Századvég’s sample of 2,004 adults said they opposed illegal migration.

A quarter of respondents said either they themselves or a close relative of theirs have had personal encounters with “irregular migrants”.

Around three-fourths of those who had encountered migrants described their experience as negative with 10 percent of them saying they had been harassed by migrants.

The survey also revealed that most Hungarians rely on Hungarian-language media in keeping up with the migration situation while one-sixth of respondents said they also get news from foreign media.

Fully 71 percent of respondents rejected the European Union’s proposal to automatically redistribute asylum seekers among member states.

A total of 56 percent said they were optimistic about the effectiveness of EU aid going to the migrants’ countries of origin and EU transit countries. However, 86 percent of these respondents said the distribution of aid requires proper international cooperation and oversight.

The survey was conducted between June 20 and 30.

Source: MTI