Three quarters of Hungarians (75 percent) are in favour of an immediate ceasefire in the Russian-Ukrainian war. While left-wing parties are against it, even 58 percent of left-wing voters think it is right to call for an immediate ceasefire.

Nearly 500 days after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the pro-peace camp is still in a minority compared to the pro-war voices both domestically and internationally. Nézőpont Institute conducted a survey among Hungarian voters to assess their opinions on whether it is right to demand an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.

There is a clear pro-peace stance on the issue, as three quarters of Hungarians (75 percent) agree with the call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, and only 15 percent are against it. The desire for an immediate ceasefire is equally high among different age groups: 73 percent among 18-39-year-olds, who were born in peaceful decades, 77 percent among 40-59-year-olds, who were born during the Cold War, and 76 percent among those over 60 who lived through the armed conflicts and retaliations of the 20th century.

Nearly all pro-government voters (91 percent) support the government’s policy of facilitating negotiations between the warring parties and seeking a peaceful resolution to the armed conflict.

58 percent of left-wing voters think it is right to call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, and less than a third (30 percent) think it is wrong. This suggests that left-wing parties do not really represent left-wing voters, as their views are much closer to those of their foreign supporters: they continue to argue in favour of arms transfers and consistently attack the pro-peace stance of the Hungarian government. On the one-year anniversary of the outbreak of the war, Ferenc Gyurcsány said that “Hungary should have a clear obligation to support Ukraine’s war of national defence” and that the Hungarian government’s “pro-peace stance is a Putin-dictated peace.” Bence Tordai, co-president of Dialogue for Hungary, also supports “direct arms transfers”. According to Márton Gyöngyösi, president of Jobbik, the ceasefire is a “pro-Russian narrative” and, in his opinion, ” Hungary has also received a declaration of war, not only Ukraine.” Gergely Karácsony, the Mayor of Budapest, does not see the biggest challenge in preventing a drift into war either, as he also said that “we are at war” with Russia.

Methodology

The latest opinion-poll of the Nézőpont Institute was conducted between 12 and 14 of June, 2023, by interviewing 1,000 respondents by phone. For all surveys, the sample is representative of the adult population (18 years and older) by gender, age, region, type of settlement and education. In case of a sample size of 1000 respondents and a confidence level of 95 percent, the sampling error is ± 3.16 percent. Respondent base = Hungarian voters, respondents who are willing to vote in the elections.