A simple majority of Hungarians are sceptical about the upcoming Hungarian Council Presidency. This is the result of a representative survey conducted on behalf of Daniel Freund, MEP of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament. According to the survey, 46.3% of respondents said no (yes: 32.4%; don’t know: 21.3%) to the question of whether Hungary should take over the EU Council Presidency despite the Hungarian government’s negative statements about the EU institutions. The survey focussed on the perception of corruption in Hungary and the EU policy of the Orban government. Other key findings include the following:

• 72 per cent of respondents perceive corruption as a “big problem”. 79 per cent state that the government is handling the task of fighting corruption badly. More than 65 per cent believe that Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his officials are involved in corruption.
• When asked whether they would prefer a direct payment of EU funds to citizens to the current system of distributing EU funds through state institutions, a majority of respondents consider this proposal to be “reasonable” (“somewhat reasonable”: 29.3%; “very reasonable”: 24.4%).
• The Hungarian population appears clearly divided when it comes to the Orban government’s use of vetoes in European policy. For example, 36.4 per cent say that Hungary should refrain from using vetoes in the EU, while 37.4 per cent are in favour of the continued use of vetoes.

You can find the full survey and all the results under the following link:

https://danielfreund.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Survey-Hungary-GEFA-April-24-EN.pdf

Daniel Freund, Member of the European Parliament for the Greens, comments:

“Shortly after the European elections, Viktor Orban is to take over the Presidency of the Council of the EU. That’s like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse. Key decisions for the future of the EU will be made during this time: top jobs, the Commission’s work programme, aid for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia. Orban can sabotage or delay all of these decisions. He has proven several times in the past that he is not an honest broker for the EU, but rather represents Russian and Chinese interests.”

“The member states must not shy away in the face of this danger. Hungary’s Council Presidency should be postponed – at least until democracy and the rule of law are restored in Hungary. It is remarkable that a large part of the Hungarian population also considers a Council presidency under Viktor Orban to be a bad idea.”

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