Majority of Hungarians would prefer peace talks to sanctions

Fully 86 percent of Hungarians would prefer Ukraine and Russia to sit down for talks to end the war instead of the sanctions imposed on Russia, according to a Századvég Foundation survey published on Wednesday.

Hungarians have a low opinion of leading politicians involved in the Ukrainian-Russian crisis, with 68 percent expressing a poor opinion of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to Szazadveg’s survey of 1,000 adults in September. Negative views of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, have fallen from 72 percent in June to 69 percent in September, the think-tank added. US President Joe Biden was unpopular with 64 percent of respondents, while 50 percent had a poor opinion of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the survey indicated.

Regarding sanctions policy, 50 percent of respondents said the sanctions currently in force against Russia were “over the top”, while 25 percent saw them as “adequate”, with no need for further measures. Some 20 percent considered sanctions not stringent enough, the think-tank said. Fully 72 percent said the European and US sanctions against Russia were harmful for the EU and Hungary, while 21 percent saw them as “on balance more useful”, it added.