poll

Over half million signatures collected in support of PM Orbán’s programme

orbán at cce meeting

The ruling parties have collected more than half million signatures in support of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s programme announced last week, Fidesz group leader Máté Kocsis said on Sunday.

The signature drive will continue with the help of some 20,000 activists, he told public Kossuth radio.

In line with the programme’s first proposal, the right to manage migration must be taken away from “Brussels bureaucrats” and returned to national governments, he said.

Additionally, no country should be forced to take in migrants, no migrants should be allowed to enter Europe without valid documents, the scheme of issuing anonymous pre-paid bank cards to migrants should be stopped and migrant visas should not be granted. Also, organisations linked to US financier George Soros supporting migration should not be granted European Union aid, nobody should suffer discrimination in Europe for claiming to be Christian and the EU should have anti-migration leaders, Kocsis said, listing further proposals in the programme.

The group leader said it was appalling that the current leaders in Brussels were handing out money to uncontrolled masses by way of “migrant cards”. Fidesz believes a significant part of Europe was dissatisfied because people are aware of the serious terrorism risks of uncontrolled migration, he added.

Kocsis reiterated that the European parliamentary elections in May would have unprecedented historic significance. What’s at stake is whether Europe will have pro-migration or anti-migration leaders, he added.

“Voters will also have to decide if Europe should continue to belong to Europeans or they give up their place to people from other cultures and civilisations,” Kocsis said.

Featured image: MTI

Fidesz-KDNP lead grows in latest poll – EP election 2019

Orbán Fidesz Brussels

The ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat (KDNP) alliance has increased its lead over the opposition among decided voters, garnering the support of 56 percent two months before the European parliamentary election on May 26, a poll by the Nézőpont Institute published on Monday shows.

Fidesz-KDNP’s votes would translate into 14 seats in the European Parliament should the election be held this Sunday, the pollster said.

The ruling parties outperformed their results at last April’s parliamentary election by 9 percentage points, Nézőpont said.

Opposition parties’ popularity has remained relatively unchanged, Nézőpont said. Among decided voters, the Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance has 11 percent of the vote, the Democratic Coalition (DK) 6 percent, green LMP 5 percent, and Momentum 4 percent. Conservative Jobbik has 12 percent, a fall of 8 percentage points compared to the 2018 parliamentary election, Nézőpont said.

Such results would ensure 3 seats at the European Parliament for Jobbik, 2 for Socialist-Párbeszéd, and one each for DK and LMP, Nézőpont said.

Among the whole population, Fidesz-KDNP has 42 percent while Jobbik has 8 percent of the vote, Nézőpont said. The Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance has 7 percent and DK 4 percent. LMP and the satirical Two-tailed dog party have the support of 3 percent each, Momentum 2 percent and radical nationalist Mi Hazánk 1 percent.

The poll was conducted at the request of daily Magyar Nemzet between March 1 and 28 on a representative sample of 5,000 people.

POLL – Orbán’s Fidesz widens lead over opposition

Orbán RMDSZ leader

The Fidesz-Christian Democrat (KDNP) alliance leads the polls among decided voters for the European parliamentary elections with 54 percent, which would increase the number of seats held by the ruling parties to 14 from 12 in the EP, a fresh poll by the Nézőpont Institute commissioned by daily Magyar Nemzet shows.

The ruling parties’ popularity increased by 7 percent since last year’s general election, the poll showed.

Of the opposition parties, conservative Jobbik’s support dropped to 13 percent among decided voters, which would translate to three seats in the EP, Nézőpont said.

The Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance has 11 percent, which would mean two seats in the EP. The leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) is backed by 6 percent and LMP by 5 percent, which would be worth one seat for each party.

The Momentum Movement and the satirical Two-tailed Dog party would each garner 4 percent, and the radical nationalist Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland) party 3 percent.

Among the whole population, Fidesz-KDNP has the support of 40 percent, Jobbik 8 percent, the Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance 7 percent, DK 4 percent, LMP 3 percent, with Momentum, the Two-tailed Dog party and Mi Hazank at 2 percent each, the poll showed.

The poll was conducted between January 31 and February 22 by phone, with a representative sample of 5,000 people.

Featured image: MTI

Orbán retains massive lead despite protests in Hungary – Poll

PM Orbán

The ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat parties have retained a massive lead of 54 percent among decided voters and 39 percent across the whole sample despite anti-government protests in December, pollster Nézőpont reported citing its latest poll carried out on a representative sample of 5,000 voting-age adults in January.

Nézőpont head Ágoston Sámuel Mraz told public media on Tuesday that

conservative Jobbik would garner 13 percent, the Socialist-Párbeszéd parties 10 percent, Democratic Coalition 7 percent and LMP 5 percent among decided voters if elections were held this weekend.

The Momentum Movement with 4 percent, the satirical Two-Tailed Dog and radical Mi Hazánk with 3 percent each would not clear the parliamentary threshold.

According to the poll, the ruling parties would have 14 mandates out of a total 21 if the European parliamentary elections were held this weekend.

Jobbik could send 3 MEPs to the European Parliament, while Socialists-Párbeszéd would have 2 deputies, and the Democratic Coalition and LMP one each.

Mráz said that Jobbik was “the loser” of the beginning of the year, having lost 250,000 voters, who joined either Fidesz or the Mi Hazánk movement. He said that those that quit Jobbik mostly belong to the 18-29 age group, in which Jobbik has enjoyed its largest support.

SECOND STRONGEST POLITICAL PARTY JOBBIK TO BE ELIMINATED BY THE STATE AUDIT OFFICE?

Tamás Sneider, the chairman of Jobbik, called together an extraordinary party congress because the State Audit Office fined the party for 270 M HUF (EUR 844 thousand). According to Sneider, they are going to discuss two topics: the termination of their parliamentary group which would raise further financial questions and the continuation of the national resistance announced by the party last year. Read more details HERE.

POLL: Ruling alliance maintains lead, opposition unchanged

PM Orbán

Hungary’s ruling parties maintained their lead over the opposition parties, which saw their support remaining basically unchanged, according to a fresh poll released by the Századvég Institute on Thursday.

Within the whole electorate, 35 percent of the vote would go to the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat (KDNP) alliance if the election were held this Sunday, Századvég said.

Support in this group for Jobbik remained at 8 percent while for the Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance went down to 6 percent. Green LMP maintained its support at 3 percent and the leftist Democratic Coalition at 4 percent, the pollster said.

Among decided voters Fidesz-KDNP had support of 53 percent, Jobbik 13 percent and the Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance 12 percent. LMP in this group stood with 9 percent and DK with 8 percent.

The ratio of undecided voters went up to 37 percent.

The poll was conducted by phone on a sample of 1,000 adults between January 7 and 13.

Featured image: MTI

Survey: Most Hungarians against ‘massive, uncontrolled’ migration

refugee migration map

Two-thirds of respondents in a recent poll see illegal migration to Hungary as a worrying issue, while some 40 percent said that the problem was serious, pollster Századvég told MTI on Wednesday, citing a survey of 1,000 adults conducted in December.

Fully 76 percent of all respondents thought that masses of African migrants would come to Europe in the next decade, mostly “for clearly economic reasons”, the pollster said. Eighty-seven percent said that migrants were an increasing burden on the European economy, while only 8 percent saw them as an economic asset, the report said.

Eighty-six percent also said that immigration from other cultures was likely to increase the chances for conflicts rather than enrich European culture, the report said.

Asked about the Hungarian government’s measures concerning illegal migration, “72 percent said they were satisfied in general, while 46 percent voiced full support”, and 30 percent expressed “some kind of disagreement”, Századvég said. Seventy-eight percent of respondents voiced dissatisfaction with the European Union’s handling of illegal migration, and 18 percent said that they were “to some extent” satisfied with the same measures, the report said.

Ninety three percent said that the EU should take more effective measures to protect its borders, adding that 81 percent said they rejected a planned mechanism of distributing migrants on a quota basis.

Support for ruling Fidesz up, opposition down since general elections – Poll

orbán brussels

The ruling Fidesz-led alliance’s base has strengthened while support for the opposition has waned since the spring general election, according to the latest poll released by the Nézőpont Institute on Saturday.

Fully 54 percent of decided voters expressed their support for Fidesz, according to the poll completed between November 26 and December 15 with anti-government protests already under way,

Nézőpont said.

This is up 7 percent since the general election held in April, Nézőpont said.

Jobbik’s base was 14 percent, dropping altogether 6 percent over the past eight months, while core support for the opposition Socialist Party’s alliance with Párbeszéd stayed level at 11 percent.

The Democratic Coalition’s core support slightly strengthened since April, to stand at 7 percent while it was 4 percent each for LMP and Momentum.

Mi Hazánk, the party formed by former Jobbik politicians, and the satirical Two-Tailed Dog Party (MKKP) each firmed their support to 3 percent.

Among all voters, support for Fidesz was 38 percent, for Jobbik 9 percent, for Socialist-Párbeszéd 6 percent and for DK 4 percent. It was 2 percent each for LMP, Momentum and MKKP and 1 percent for Mi Hazánk.

Nézőpont conducted the poll by asking 2,000 people in personal interviews.

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/minister-trocsanyi-ruling-fideszs-top-candidate-for-ep-election-here-is-the-list/” color=”orange” newwindow=”yes”] MINISTER TRÓCSÁNYI RULING FIDESZ’S TOP CANDIDATE FOR EP ELECTION – HERE IS THE LIST[/button]

As we wrote on Tuesday, A large majority of Hungarians support law and order and reject violent street protests that question the government’s legitimacy, the latest survey of Századvég Foundation said, read more HERE.

POLL – Fidesz’s popularity rises, Jobbik weakens

orbán Prague

The ruling Fidesz-led alliance’s base has strengthened while the fortunes of its main right-wing political foe, the Jobbik party, have waned in the latest poll conducted by the Nézőpont Institute.

Fully 53 percent of decided voters expressed their support for Fidesz, according to the survey completed between November 10 and 27.

This is up 2 percent since the October survey and up 6 percent since the spring general election, Nézőpont said, adding that it appeared extra Fidesz support was at the expense of Jobbik.

Jobbik’s base was 15 percent of the think-tank’s latest sample, down from 17 percent in the previous survey and a 4 percent decline since the general election. Mi Hazánk, the party formed by former Jobbik politicians, increased its voter base to 2 percent.

The core support of the opposition Socialist Party’s alliance with Párbeszéd stayed level at 10 percent while its support among all respondents nudged up a point to 6 percent, or around half a million potential voters, according to Nézőpont’s personal interviews of 2,000 voting-age adults.

Altogether 38 percent of Nézőpont’s entire sample backed the Fidesz-led alliance, amounting to around three million voters.

Jobbik’s support in this category fell from 10 percent to 9 percent, or around 800,000 sympathisers.

The Democratic Coalition’s core support dropped by a point to 7 percent while overall it stayed level at 4 percent, while the satirical Two-Tailed Dog Party increased its core support from 1 percent to 3 percent.

LMP and Momentum were each on 2 percent among all voters, while Mi Hazánk was backed by 1 percent of Nézőpont’s respondents.

Featured image: MTI

Ruling Fidesz commands support of 3 million, Jobbik is the strongest opposition party

Hungary parliament Budapest

Fully 38 percent of Hungarian voters, or around 3 million people, support the ruling Fidesz-led alliance, according to a fresh poll by the Nézőpont Institute.

Based on decided voters, Fidesz would capture an absolute majority of votes,

the survey conducted by personal interviews of 2,000 people between October 10 and 29 found.

The conservative opposition Jobbik party had the backing of 10 percent of the entire sample, or around 800,000 sympathisers, unchanged from the previous month,

Nézőpont said in the report published on Friday. The new party formed by a Jobbik splinter group, Mi Hazank, polled 1 percent.

The Socialist Party together with Párbeszéd was steady with 5 percent, while DK had the support of 4 percent of the whole sample. Green party LMP only notched up 2 percent, similar to the Momentum Movement and the satirical Two-Tailed Dog Party.

Among decided voters, Jobbik was 1 percentage point lower than the previous month, at 17 percent, while the Socialist-Párbeszéd joint list had 10 percent and DK was on 8 percent.

Momentum, Two-Tailed Dog, LMP, Mi Hazánk would not pass the 5 percent threshold for parliamentary representation either in the Hungarian or EU legislatures.

Nézőpont reckons that the Fidesz-led alliance with the Christian Democrats would send 13 of their number to the European Parliament, while Jobbik would have 4 of theirs in the EP.

Socialist-Párbeszéd would have two MEPs, as would DK if the election were held currently.

Photo by Guavin Pictures

Survey: 45 pc of Budapest voters prefer incumbent mayor

mayor tarlós PM orbán

If István Tarlós were to run in the next Budapest mayoral election, he would have every chance of winning for a third time, according to a poll by the Nézőpont Institute, which found that he would garner 45 percent of the votes.

Tarlós, who has so far run on a Fidesz ticket, “is more popular than Fidesz,” the think-tank said on Wednesday, noting that the mayor had an 11 point advantage over the ruling party.

Nézőpont found in its poll of 800 people a left-wing candidate would have the support of 30 percent of Budapest voters and the conservative Jobbik party’s candidate would get the backing of 6 percent. A green party LMP candidate would be preferred by 8 percent in an election this Sunday.

The think-tank said the opposition was highly fragmented in the capital.

The strongest anti-government party in Budapest is the Momentum Movement (10 percent), followed by the Democratic Coalition (9 percent), while the satirical Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party and Jobbik were tied at 8 percent).

The Socialists and Párbeszéd had 6 percent each in Nézőpont’s poll and the LMP was preferred by 5 percent.

For that matter, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has asked the incumbent mayor of Budapest, István Tarlós, to run for a third consecutive term in next year’s local government elections.

Orbán made the announcement at City Hall on Wednesday after meeting Tarlos.

At a joint news conference, Orbán said he would co-head a new Budapest development council alongside Tarlós.

Tarlós said he had accepted the nomination to run in the 2019 elections after “a serious internal struggle” and with “significant conditions”, including his insistence on holding a direct mayoral election and the establishment of the Budapest municipal development council.

Several of the new investment projects in the capital will run until 2030, he said.

Tarlós and Orbán also came to an agreement on central financing in the tens of billions of forints for the renovation of metro 3.

Orbán listed completed investments worth 280 billion forints, such as the refurbishment of the City Park ice rink and the National Horse Stables, the renovation of Buda Vigadó, the upgrade of the Dagaly baths and the revamp of the Music Academy among others. Projects under way amounting to 600 billion forints include the Buda Castle, restoration of the Fiumei Road and Jewish Salgótarjáni Street cemeteries, renovation of the Opera House and construction of a new athletic stadium.

“These projects don’t include transport developments, in which case we’re talking over 700 billion forints,” he added.

Orbán also noted that the government has assumed more than 217 billion forints in municipal debt.

“We all have an interest in Budapest regaining its old glow, and the government is convinced that Hungary can be a serious country only if its capital undertakes serious things,” said Orbán.

“A strong, confident and popular mayor is essential to achieving these goals,” he said, adding that the views of the government and the Fidesz district mayors coincided.

The opposition Socialists said in reaction that Orbán and Tarlós had failed to announce anything meaningful about Budapest. Orbán has already taken away a lot from Budapest residents and now he is not even promising anything, Csaba Horváth, the Socialist representative in the metropolitan council general assembly, said.

The opposition Democratic Coalition said Tarlós had given up all of Budapest’s powers when he agreed to run for mayor.

“Istvan Tarlós gave away half his kingdom to Viktor Orbán,” Erzsébet Gy Németh, the party’s Budapest representative, said.

József Gál, the Budapest representative of opposition LMP, said the setting up of a municipal development council was a dated idea from the 20th century and regular social consultations and referendums should be held instead. More cycle paths and pedestrian areas are needed instead of motorways, and more green areas instead of the cutting down of trees, he added.

Opposition Párbeszéd co-leader and mayor of Budapest’s 14 district Gergely Karácsony said Budapest had lost much of its independence over the past eight years and in the future no development will be possible without government support.

Under the latest deal, ruling Fidesz has “practically nationalised” all Budapest developments, he added.

The Hungarian Liberal Party said Tarlos’s announcement that he would again run for mayor, contrary to his repeated statements in recent years, showed that he stood on the side of Fidesz and not on the side of Budapest residents.

Featured image: MTI

SURVEY – Majority of Hungarians disagree with approval of Sargentini report

Orbán Sargentini

The majority of Hungarians disagree with the European Parliament’s approval of the Sargentini report, according to a survey by the Századvég Foundation released on Wednesday.

A total of 82 percent of the respondents have heard of the report, Századvég found.

Altogether 57 percent of them said they were against the report’s approval, while 32 percent said they agreed with it. Fully 11 percent were either undecided or did not answer.

The report only had majority support among left-wing voters, with 61 percent of them being in favour of it compared with the 30 percent who are against it.

Altogether 40 percent of self-declared centrists and 10 percent of right-wing voters supported the EP’s approval of the report, while 50 percent of the former and 84 percent of the latter block were against it.

Fully 55 percent of respondents said the Sargentini report criticised Hungary mainly for its migration policy, while 39 believed it was because there was “a problem with democracy and human rights” in the country.

The phone survey was carried out between September 15 and 22 with a sample of 1,000 adults.

Featured image: MTI

POLL: Support for Fidesz-Christian Democrats remains strong

fidesz christion democrats

Support for the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrats has remained high, with at least a third of every demographic group expressing support for the ruling parties, pollster Nézőpont Intézet said on Monday.

Citing a poll prepared in August, Nézőpont said the only opposition party that has over 10 percent support is Jobbik.

Among all voters, 41 percent support the ruling parties, the opposition Socialists-Párbeszed alliance has 6 percent, Democratic Coalition (DK) 4 percent, LMP 3 percent, Momentum 2 percent, the satirical Two-tailed Dog Party 1 percent and the Mi Hazank Movement also 1 percent.

The Fidesz-Christian Democrats would have received 54 percent on the party list if the elections had been held in August, a 1 percent drop compared to July. Jobbik would have received 17 percent, unchanged from July, and the Mi Hazánk Movement founded by Jobbik dissidents that left the organization would have received 1 percent. DK would have received 7 percent, 1 percent up from July, and LMP would have reached the 5 percent threshold to enter parliament. The joint list of the Socialists-Párbeszed would have received 9 percent support in August.

Nézőpont Institute said

the ruling parties have a 10 percent lead ahead of the entire opposition among men and 17 percent among women.

The poll was prepared by personally interviewing 2,000 people between July 19 and August 14.

POLL – Fidesz popularity at record high, Jobbik sliding

Viktor Orbán Israel

Fidesz is still touching a record high while the opposition Jobbik party’s polling fortunes are waning, according to the think-tank Nézőpont.

In a poll released on Tuesday, Nézőpont found that the ruling Fidesz alliance with the Christian Democrats had the support of 42 percent of the entire electorate, or around 3 million voters, in June.

The conservative Jobbik party captured the sympathy of 10 percent of the respondents, down a point since April.

László Toroczkai’s new radical party, Our Homeland Movement, managed to attract just a single percent of all voters.

The opposition Socialist Party’s alliance with Párbeszéd notched up 6 percent, the leftist Democratic Coalition 4 percent, green party LMP 3 percent, liberal Momentum 2 percent, and the satirical Two-Tailed Dog Party 1 percent.

Among committed voters, Fidesz would get 55 percent in an election held this Sunday, level with its showing in April.

Jobbik would receive 17 percent in this category. Fully 9 percent would vote for the Socialists and Párbeszéd, less than the 10 percent required for a joint list to get seats in parliament.

Support for DK increased by one point to 6 percent while backing for LMP went down to 5 percent, the threshold for a single party to get into parliament.

Momentum was preferred by 4 percent.

Nézőpont conducted personal interviews with 2,000 adults between 1 and 17 July.

Featured image: MTI

POLL – Ruling Fidesz rides high, opposition languishing

Orbán Brussels EU

The Fidesz ruling alliance with the Christian Democrats continues to ride high in Századvég’s latest survey, while the opposition parties appear to be languishing.

Fully 36 percent of the entire population backed the Fidesz-led alliance while the opposition Socialist-Parbeszed coalition was preferred by 9 percent, according to the poll published on Friday.

The conservative opposition Jobbik party had the support of 8 percent of Századvég’s sample, while the green party LMP and the leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) were each backed by 4 percent. The other parties had 6 percent support between them. The camp of “don’t know” stood at 33 percent.

Among decided voters, Fidesz was backed by 53 percent, while 14 percent preferred the Socialist-Párbeszéd coalition. Fully 13 percent in this category expressed support for Jobbik, while LMP and DK each had 6 percent.

Századvég said the camp of uncertain voters had grown since its last survey and this was connected with upheavals on the opposition side. Support of the ruling parties has remained stable since the elections, it said.

Divisions within the opposition are being amplified by the emergence of a new player on the political market: László Toroczkai’s Mi Hazank (Our Homeland) party, a radical nationalist formation that recently broke away from Jobbik and commands the support of a quarter of the “Jobbik camp”.

Századvég’s phone poll was conducted between July 2 and 6 with a randomly selected sample of 1,000 voting-age adults.

Photo: MTI

POLL – Fidesz records post-election bump

Viktor Orbán European People's Party

Fidesz’s alliance with the Christian Democrats has recorded a post-election bump, a Nézőpont survey has found.

According to the poll released on Saturday, the ruling alliance boosted last month’s 52 percent showing to 54 percent among committed voters in May, or 2,600,000 votes.

Fidesz boosted its popularity among men, people living in villages and people with a secondary education.

Nézőpont found that 42 percent of the total adult population preferred the ruling parties, while the radical nationalist Jobbik party had the support of 11 percent. The Socialists notched up 6 percent while the Democratic Coalition (DK) and LMP were each on 3 percent. The Momentum Movement scored 2 percent and the Two-Tailed Dog Party had the backing of 1 percent.

Taking all respondents, the Fidesz-led alliance had more than a million more sympathisers than the total opposition combined, Nézőpont found in the poll commissioned by the daily Magyar Idők.

Among voters committed to a single party, Jobbik had the support of 19 percent of Nézőpont’s sample, while the Socialist-Dialogue list had the backing of 9 percent.

LMP was preferred by 6 percent while DK had 5 percent. Momentum’s potential voters added up to 4 percent, and the Two-Tailed Dog Party was on 2 percent.

The survey was conducted between May 2 and 22 based on personal interviews with 2,000 voting-age adults.

Featured image: MTI

Hungarians admiring Putin

As Globsec Trends’ latest survey revealed, Vladimir Putin is the most popular leader in Hungary, according to Index. Though the V4 countries seem to follow a similar political course, this survey clearly highlights the minor differences between the attitudes of the people of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.

Globsec has revealed its fresh survey in a security policy conference in Bratislava. Though there are efforts in the V4 to become an alternative power in opposition to Western Europe, each country represents a rather different attitude towards its position between East and West.

Though all the four countries have been liberated from the socialist regime about three decades ago, they do not prefer the West obviously.

Poland is the only one that sides with Western Europe, the other three countries place themselves somewhere in between. The West gained some popularity in Hungary compared to last year — however, 47 percent of the respondents still prefer being in a third direction. Still, people younger than 24 clearly favor the West. In the V4, Slovakia seems to be the most anti-West.

Though the opinions about the EU vary on a large scale in Central Europe, respondents mostly admit that there is no other choice but being part of it. In Hungary, 58 percent of the sample thinks that the European Union is a positive thing, while only 9 percent dislikes it. About three quarters of the respondents prefer staying in the EU. NATO has a similar tendency in the V4 except Slovakia: Hungary’s northern neighbors tend to reject the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The survey also analyzed the popularity of the four prime ministers of the V4: Andrej Babis (Czech), Robert Fico (Slovakian), Mateusz Morawiecki (Polish) and Viktor Orbán (Hungarian). The Hungarian leader is well-known among the partner countries, as 91 percent of the Slovakians, 70 percent of the Polish and 62 percent of the Czechs have already heard of him.

The Hungarian sample proved to be the less aware of the international leaders of the survey. French PM Macron, for example, is unknown for the half of the younger generation. Macron is both the least known and the most controversial leader for the population of the V4. The poll compared the popularity of the four leaders with the greatest current powers (Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron), and the results differ greatly among the Visegrad members. Macron is the most popular of them in the Czech Republic, while he is the least favored in Hungary.

Hungarians prefer Putin the most with about a third of the positive ratings.

This is might prove the popular opinions in the USA about the country. Putin is followed by Trump with 30 percent – he has already been revealed as not being too popular among Hungarians – Merkel with 27 percent and Macron with 25 percent. Putin’s evaluation is quite controversial: he is admired in Slovakia even more than in Hungary, while the Poles despise him the most. For the record, Angela Merkel is the most popular in Poland, despite the nation’s long-lasting anti-German attitude.

The survey also studied another peculiar aspect of everyday politics: the conspiration theories. The idea of a Jewish background power is accepted by 52 percent of the Slovakians, while this rate is 38 percent in Hungary.

However, the end of the communist regime is only viewed by 62 percent of the Hungarians positively and a similar percentage states that life was better before 1989 than after it.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

POLL – Ruling parties keep lead

new government parliament

The ruling Fidesz and Christian Democrats (KDNP) have maintained their lead among voters since the April 8 general election, a new poll by the Nézőpont Institute shows.

Of the whole electorate, 41 percent supports the ruling alliance, 11 percent radical nationalist Jobbik and 6 percent the Socialists. Leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) has 4 percent, green LMP 3 percent, the Momentum Movement 2 percent and the satirical Two-tailed Dog Party 1 percent.

Among decided voters, support for Fidesz-KDNP rose since the election to 52 percent. Jobbik garnered 19 percent, Socialists-Párbeszéd 10 percent, DK and LMP 6 percent each. Momentum got 4 percent and the Two-tailed Dog Party 2 percent of the vote.

In absolute numbers, over three million voters support Fidesz-KDNP and over two million the opposition, Nézőpont said.

Sixty seven percent of Jobbik supporters, 73 percent of Socialist and 75 percent of DK voters agreed with some opposition politicians who attributed their electoral defeat to “ill-informed” rural people. Sixty five percent of those asked, however, qualified this statement as “offensive to rural people”, the pollster said.

The poll was conducted between April 13 and 30 by personal query, on a sample of 2,000.

Featured image: MTI

SURVEY – Majority of Hungarians optimistic about Hungary’s future

Fully 53 percent of Hungarians think the country’s economic and general situation will improve in the next four years, while 31 and 32 percent of respondents expect them to deteriorate, respectively, a new survey by the Nézőpont Institute shows.

Over 90 percent of supporters of the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance were optimistic about the country’s future development. Of radical nationalist Jobbik’s voters, 20 percent trust that the country’s general situation will improve and 29 percent expect the economy to do so.

Among leftist voters, optimists acocunt for 24 and 28 percent, respectively, the survey showed.

Fully 80 percent of respondents expect progress in the country’s fight against the mandatory resettlement quota for asylum seekers,

75 percent think family allowances will be expanded, 72 percent hope for progress in protecting the country’s sovereignty, 71 percent in governmental stability and 64 percent in financial and economic stability, the pollster said.

The survey was conducted between April 14 and 23 over the phone, on a representative sample of 1,000 adults.