Hungarian-born American financier George Soros unpopular in Hungary – Survey

Budapest (MTI) – According to a survey conducted by the Századvég Foundation in December, the partisan, interfering politics represented by Hungarian-born American financier George Soros and the organisations he is funding are highly unpopular in Hungary.

Soros has been funding numerous organisations and initiatives in Hungary since the end of the Communist era.

The results of the survey, conducted with a sample of 1,000 people from December 10 to 15, were communicated to MTI on Friday. Fully 61 percent of respondents have a negative opinion of Soros while 14 percent have a favourable view.

The survey highlights a strong correlation between political views and the financier’s opinions: he is unpopular with 81 percent of those professing right-wing sympathies and 55 percent of those with centrist political preferences. Fully 41 percent of left-wing voters have a positive opinion of him. Breaking down the poll results according to party preferences shows that those with unfavourable views of Soros are in majority in all parties except for leftist opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) and Együtt parties.

A vast majority of Hungarians, 88 percent of respondents, rejects soft-power politics, where political or economic entities influence the government or the policies of a country through non-governmental organisations, Századvég found. This opinion is unanimous among Hungarian citizens of all political persuasions. The majority of respondents view political soft power, when funded from abroad, as an infringement of the country’s sovereignty, the survey found.

The main reason for Soros’ low popularity is his open support of illegal migration, the survey said. As several other polls also suggest, Hungarians are wary of immigration and the growing threat of terrorism in Europe.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI