Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán released results from a nationwide survey indicating alleged overwhelming opposition to Ukraine joining the European Union.
The Voks 2025 survey allegedly found that 95% of respondents opposed Ukraine’s EU membership, while only 5% voted in favor, Telex reports.
Despite the large participation numbers (2.28 million total participants), only 29% of Hungary’s eligible voters participated in the consultation, leaving more than 5 million adult Hungarian citizens without expressing an opinion.
Questions over survey methodology and legitimacy
The survey results carry no legal binding power and function solely as a political instrument, according to Telex. Concerns about the reliability of participation numbers and response data have emerged, with evidence showing individuals could submit multiple votes through different email addresses in online questionnaires.
Government spokesperson Gergely Gulyás addressed these concerns by stating that printed ballots are verified by notaries and cannot be manipulated, while online voting is also authenticated by notaries.
However, Gulyás could not confirm whether the system filters out cases where someone voted both on paper and online. He attempted to minimize this issue by noting that online votes represent only about 10% of the total 2 million ballots.
Propaganda campaign portrays Ukraine as security threat
The Hungarian government deployed extensive resources to maximize participation in Voks 2025.
The consultation was promoted through:
- nationwide billboard campaigns
- advertised during soccer matches on public television
- sent to vaccination information email lists
- promoted in free newspapers for pensioners
- government ministries encouraged their employees to participate through circular letters.
- Even military personnel received encouragement to complete the government political initiative.
The campaign messaging portrayed Ukraine as a security threat, claiming EU membership would flood Hungary with infectious diseases, Ukrainian criminals, and poor-quality food products.
Government communications warned that the additional pension would disappear, cheap energy would be lost, and Hungary would lose EU agricultural subsidies while being forced into war.
“There is no solution on the battlefield, only destruction and death, ceasefire and peace are needed. We don’t want to die for Ukraine, we don’t want our sons to come back in coffins. We don’t want an Afghanistan next door,” Orbán declared at a Patriots rally in France.
The campaign notably shifted from Orbán’s initial economic arguments in March to more emotional appeals featuring artificial intelligence-generated videos showing bloodied Hungarian soldiers and rooms filled with coffins.
Hungary obstructs EU support for Ukraine
Orbán announced the survey following an emergency EU leaders’ summit in Brussels where Hungary stood as the sole member state refusing to endorse a joint statement supporting military aid to Ukraine. The timing coincides with ongoing EU discussions about Ukraine’s accession conditions, additional sanctions packages, and European defense policy.
The European Union is also considering suspending Hungary’s voting rights due to Orbán’s persistent obstruction of support for Ukraine, including vetoing the release of €6 billion in funds meant to reimburse EU countries providing military aid to Kyiv and blocking EU sanctions against Russia.
Ukrainian officials view this referendum on Ukraine’s EU membership as a political maneuver to distract Hungarian voters from domestic economic difficulties such as rising inflation and prices
Since 2010, Orbán’s administration has conducted multiple national consultations on various policy issues, ranging from migration to LGBTQ+ rights. These consultations involve mailing questionnaires to all eligible voters, typically offering simple response options such as “yes” or “no.”
Opposition groups and civil society organizations have criticized these consultations as propaganda mechanisms. While the results lack legal authority, the government uses them to reinforce its positions on disputed policy matters.