More than 80% of Hungarians oppose visa ban on Russians and weapon supply to Ukraine Survey data

An overwhelming majority of Hungarians do not support EU sanctions against Russia, oppose a visa ban for Russians, and do not agree with EU member states supplying weapons to Ukraine.

These are the data of a study by think tank Századvég, Hungary Today reports.

"It turned out that the sanctions already imposed did not meet expectations and instead plunged EU member states into crisis, as attempts to abandon Russian energy sources led to extreme uncertainty and higher oil, electricity, and gas prices," Századvég claims.

The poll, conducted on 1,000 people, shows that 81 per cent are against the EU and its member states sending weapons to Ukraine and the same level of opposition to a ban on Russian tourists. Only 16 per cent and 17 per cent of respondents agree with the two proposals.

"The vast majority of Hungarians want to see peace in their neighbouring countries, but they believe that arming Ukraine has the opposite effect, and it actually contributes to the continuation of war, causing further loss of life and weakening Europe's economy through generating military inflation," the study said.

In addition, the ban on Russian tourists will also have a negative impact on European tourism revenues and, consequently, on the continent's economic performance, the study claims.

The majority of respondents (78 per cent) do not support a ban on Russian oil imports to Europe, the training of the Ukrainian military by the EU (77 per cent), a ban on Russian gas imports, and a permanent withdrawal from Russian gas (75 per cent) or a ban on the import of Russian fuel and raw materials for nuclear power plants (74 per cent).

Hungarians are also against an import ban on Russian coal (71 per cent), goods and services from Russia to Europe (70 per cent), Russian civilian aircraft in Europe (68 per cent) and a ban on the sale of European goods and services to Russia (67 per cent).

The survey results show that only one of the punitive measures enjoys majority support: 57 per cent of respondents agree with freezing the assets of Russian billionaires and oligarchs, while 37 per cent do not.