Government think-tank: Budapest residents reject sanctions

Fully 85 percent of Budapest residents want peace to be forged between Russia and Ukraine, while 63 percent see sanctions on Russia as excessive or sufficient already, the Századvég Foundation said on Friday, revealing its latest survey. It is important to note that Századvég Foundation is entirely pro-government. Please bear this in mind when looking at the results of the survey.

Fully 78 percent expressed opposition to the European Union and its member states buying weapons for Ukraine, and 76 percent objected to the EU training Ukrainian soldiers.

The think-tank said Gergely Karácsony, the mayor of Budapest, had “created the impression” that the views of Budapest residents were at odds with the pro-peace government in respect of the war.

During an official visit to Kyiv, Karácsony said: “The Hungarian people are not synonymous with the Hungarian government” and “the majority of the people of Budapest understand exactly what is happening in Ukraine,” the think-tank added.

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Budapest citizens “against sanctions”

Such comments prompted Századvég to conduct a survey of Budapest adults on issues related to the war in Ukraine in December, its statement said. Accordingly, there is a dim view of top politicians who back the continuation of the war, it said.

Meanwhile, 82 percent of respondents in the capital had a negative view of Russian President Vladimir Putin, while 57 percent saw US President Joe Biden in a bad light. Fully 52 percent had an unfavourable view of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Some 65 percent of Budapest residents said they were against Hungarian taxpayers’ money being used to finance Ukraine and 66 percent said that Brussels was acting in a unfair manner holding back some of the EU funds allocated for Hungary and Poland, Századvég said.

It added that some 56 percent of Budapest residents expressed agreement with the way that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had handled the situation developed as a result of the Russian-Ukraine crisis.

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Hungarians against withholding of EU funds

Fully 74 percent of Hungarians object to the EU withholding funds from Hungary, the Századvég Foundation said on Saturday. The think-tank’s latest survey also shows that 60 percent are of the view that the EU is not even making an attempt to strike a compromise or reach an agreement with the government to unlock the funding, but wants to punish Hungary instead.

Regarding perceptions of double standards in the European Union, 64 percent of respondents thought the EU applied different yardsticks to Hungary compared with other member states, Századvég said in an report on its survey.

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Source: MTI