Hungary shows highest level of support for Ukrainian refugees in Eastern Europe

Hungarian society is ready to continue supporting people fleeing the war in Ukraine, and it does not agree that the money spent on Ukrainians should be redirected to their own citizens.

This is evidenced by the study of the authoritative Slovak analytical organisation GLOBSEC, which is at the disposal of the European Pravda.

The organisation commissioned a representative sociological study in eight Central and Eastern European countries: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Czechia, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia. It showed that in those states where citizens are most willing to support Ukrainians, this does not coincide with the public image of the government of these countries.

Thus, Hungary, which, due to the openly pro-Russian policy of the Orbán government, is perceived by Ukrainians as the most hostile EU state to them, turned out to be the most committed to helping refugees. 90 per cent of Hungarians agreed with the statement that "we must continue to support refugees from Ukraine because they are fleeing the war."

In addition, in Hungary, the largest is delta between this level of support and the share of those who believe that "refugees from Ukraine receive support at the expense of our citizens, weaker and socially vulnerable, who need it more" (these are only 41 per cent, one of the lowest levels in the region).

Next, with a noticeable margin from the Hungarians, are Latvia, Poland and Lithuania with 79-82 per cent willing to support Ukrainians. At the same time, in Lithuania and Poland, 50-52 per cent of citizens are dissatisfied with the fact that this support is carried out by reducing the funding of Lithuanians and Poles, respectively.

In three countries of the region, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria, the number of dissatisfied people is higher than the level of support. The worst situation is in Bulgaria with a level of 71 per cent to 52 per cent.

Earlier, it was reported that only 40 per cent of Slovaks and 46 per cent of Bulgarians believe in the Russian attack on Ukraine, while Hungary's indicators have changed – most people there agree that the Russian Federation is to blame.