Hungarians among the most concerned about foreign political meddling, survey finds
Europeans expect tougher action against foreign interference and attempts at political pressure, the Sovereignty Protection Office said on Monday, citing an international survey commissioned by the Sovereignty Protection Research Institute.
The research institute surveyed voters in 27 European countries on their views on foreign influence operations, attempts to interfere in elections, political parties “serving the interests of foreign states” and “political pressure groups financed from abroad”, the office said in a statement.
The survey conducted after the USAID scandal has revealed that “Europeans — and Hungarians in particular — clearly perceive the danger of foreign influence operations”, they added.
“Europeans don’t just have a general perception of an intention by certain countries to exert influence, but are also seeing specific attempts at interference in connection with elections,” the statement said. “Almost two-thirds of the survey’s respondents (62 percent) believe there have been attempts at foreign interference in their countries’ elections over the last five years.”
The survey has also found that Europeans believe certain parties put foreign interest first rather than representing national interests, the office said. Public trust in foreign-funded political pressure groups is also significantly lower than in parties and politicians, according to the survey.
“In light of the data confirming the presence and perception of foreign influence, it comes as no surprise that altogether 87 percent of Europeans consider it important for the state to take tougher action against foreign interference,” the office said.
“There is also full public consensus on the matter in Hungary, with 80 percent of Hungarians expecting tougher action,” the statement said. “Fair elections are the most important consideration for Europeans, with 90 percent of them saying everything possible must be done to prevent foreign actors from influencing elections.”
Three out of four Europeans agree that states should take action against the foreign funding of political pressure groups, they said.
Read about more surveys on Daily News Hungary.
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Yes, we are concerned about Soros, Ursula van den B***h, et al. paying money to their pathetic little puppets.
DNH, please, turn off comments again! The peace and quiet was marvellous while it lasted. Just news and quiet contemplation, if I want aggro and provocation I’ll visit Facebook.
It’s not as if you were forced to read the comment section….
Your reaction is such a stereotypical liberal response: “oh no, I did something and it feels bad. Instead of me not doing it again, ban everyone so that I could do it, and don’t feel bad”.