What do Hungarians think about the war in Ukraine and sending troops there?

Photo: FB

Fully 77 percent of Hungarians oppose the idea of Hungary, as a NATO member, sending soldiers and weapons to Ukraine, according to a Századvég Foundation survey conducted before the Russian military attack on Ukraine on Thursday.

Századvég cited Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as saying that Hungary must stay out of the military conflict. It added, in turn, that “Péter Márki-Zay, the left-liberal prime ministerial candidate, did not rule out the option of Hungary sending a military mission to Ukraine.”

According to the survey, 83 percent of respondents were concerned about the chance of a military conflict between Russia and Ukraine while 16 percent said the contrary.

Fully 95 percent stressed the need to make every possible effort to prevent war between Russia and Ukraine while 4 percent said that Russia should be punished with every possible means, including military force.

Századvég said that 77 percent of respondents disagreed with the proposal attributed to Márki-Zay while 19 percent agreed with it.

Századvég said that 86 percent of pro-government respondents and 57 percent of those supporting the opposition were against the deployment of Hungarian soldiers and weapons in Ukraine.

Read also: Opposition condemns Russian attack, calls Orbán NATO’s unreliable ally – UPDATED

Meanwhile, Máté Kocsis, parliamentary group leader of ruling Fidesz, has called on politicians of the opposition not to make “irresponsible remarks” or “voice dangerous ideas”, and to “avoid spreading fake news”. In a Facebook post on Thursday evening, Kocsis called for “prudence and sober-mindedness” in the interest of maintaining the security for all Hungarians. “Left-wing politicians should keep that at the forefront of their minds,” he said.

“We all stand by Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, but the security of our compatriots is more important than anything else,”

Kocsis said.

“Hungary has no interest whatever in interfering in an armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, therefore left-wing politicians should not ask for Hungarian troops and arms to be sent to Ukraine,” he said. “This is irresponsible and would get Hungary involved in the war — though we won’t allow that to happen,” Kocsis said.

Featured image: illustration