New survey shows what Hungarians think about migration from poorer countries and guest workers

Almost half of Hungarians would not allow migrants from poorer countries into Hungary at all and a further 40 percent would only allow a few migrants to enter, according to an analysis by think-tank Republikon Institute, sent to MTI on Friday.

Hungarians consistently oppose immigration

Based on international research, Republikon has presented a report on Hungarians’ view on immigration and on migrant integration policy ten years after the beginning of the migrant crisis. Public opinion on immigration has remained essentially unchanged in the past fifteen years, with Fidesz campaigns causing only temporary negative swings, Republikon said. The country’s population has consistently opposed immigration. Hungary has been Europe’s most exclusionary country for 25 years, the analysts said.

“The Orbán regime’s anti-immigration stance has capitalised on a tendency already strongly present in Hungarian society, amplifying it when it saw it necessary. If the Magyar government also adopts an anti-immigration position — which the inclusion of the refugee camp issue on the agenda may foreshadow — it will be acting rationally in a political sense and representing the position of a relative majority of society, in which xenophobia is exceptionally high by international standards,” they said.

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Exceptionally high levels of xenophobia

The lack of an integration policy and the xenophobia present in both society and politics are mutually reinforcing each other. According to the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX), Hungary ranked sixth from the bottom among member states in terms of the quality of its integration policy in 2025, they added.

“We perform particularly poorly when it comes to access to healthcare, education, citizenship and civil rights,” the analysts said. Hungary’s exceptionally high levels of xenophobia are not justified by the extent of its exposure since it does not bear as heavy a burden as countries that are more welcoming to foreigners either as a host country or a border country, Republikon said.

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Featured image: illustration. Source: depositphotos.com