Here are the most and least popular foreign politicians in Hungary

Photo: MTI/AP/TASS/Sergei Bobiljev

The Hungarian population is hardly divided when it comes to politics, not to mention the perception of the most significant global political figures. Latter has been confirmed by the latest Civitas Institute poll, which measured the sympathy index of foreign politicians in Hungary. In the followings, we reveal who are the most popular and least popular global politicians according to Hungarians.

Within the framework of the Civital Institute poll, respondents were asked on a five-point scale how much they liked the listed politicians. Overall, it seems that „western” politicians are more popular in Hungary than their „eastern” counterparts. However, the division of domestic political views is also an important factor that is reflected in the results of the poll. As CEA Magazine reports,

the most popular foreign politician in Hungary is the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron are in the middle-field of the overall ranking, according to which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has gained the least popularity.

However, domestic political views also need to be considered. According to the voters of Fidesz-KDNP, Vladimir Putin is the winner of the ranking, followed by Sebastian Kurz and Xi Jinpiing, President of the People’s Republic of China. These respondents consider the Turkish President as the fourth and Ursula von der Leyen (President of the European Commission) as the fifth most popular global political figures. As CEA Magazine reports, the preference of pro-government voters might be explained by the Hungarian government’s „Eastern Opening” foreign trade policy and the Covid-19 vaccine programme. At the end of the list, we can find Joe Biden, which serves as a shred of evidence that the political views of the US President are the least likeable for Fidesz voters.

Not surprisingly, the ranking of opposition voters shows totally different results. In their case, the most preferred political figures represent the European Union and the United States. Based on their responses, Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition politician, has the highest sympathy rates, followed by Ursula von der Leyen in the second and the US President in the third place. In the case of opposition voters, the least popular politicians are Xi Jinping and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The popularity of Russian politicians in both cases suggests the significant impact of Russian politics on Hungary.

Considering the different rankings, it can be concluded that the global political preferences of Hungarians depend significantly on their domestic political views. As a result, pro-government voters and opposition supporters are strongly divided in the field of international politics as well.