According to the latest opinion poll by the Nézőpont Institute, Hungarians do not support the position of the European People’s Party (EPP) and its president, Manfred Weber, on a number of important issues, ranging from war to migration. This could even pose a serious dilemma for the Tisza Party, which has joined the left-wing EPP, but the program of the Patriots for Europe, which has become the biggest force on the European right, is in line with the will of the majority of Hungarian voters.
The Nézőpont Institute examined how the EPP voted and how Hungarians feel about their record. At the same time, polling questions were asked regarding the party manifesto presented by the Patriots for Europe, released on June 30, as well as the EU voting record of the parties involved in the new EU-level party.
According to the poll results and a comparison of the group’s voting statistics, the EPP’s values on sovereignty protection, child protection, migrant quotas, the duty-free treatment of Ukrainian agricultural products, and the freezing of EU funds were completely at odds with the Hungarian electorate.
While four-fifths (81 percent) of Hungarians agree that every country should defend its sovereignty against foreign influence, 86 percent of the EPP voted in favor of the European Parliament resolution on Hungary, which condemned, among other things, the adoption of the law on the protection of national sovereignty.
Voting for the migration pact was also a step against the majority opinion of Hungarians. More than two-thirds (69 percent) of Hungarian voters are against the idea of an EU member state having to pay HUF 8 million (€20,000) if it does not accept a migrant’s asylum application from another member state.
Eighty percent of the EPP politicians, meanwhile, voted in favor of a migrant quota, known as the mandatory solidarity mechanism, which would penalize countries that do not accept migrants.
The Patriots for Europe manifesto also represents the position on migration long supported by the majority of Hungarians. The text stresses that patriots want a Europe “determined to protect its borders, stop illegal migration and preserve its cultural identity.”
Regarding the sanctions against Hungary, 90 percent of EPP MEPs supported them. The Patriots for Europe manifesto, in agreement with the majority of Hungarians, stresses that the Europe of the future cannot justify attacks on national sovereignty by exerting pressure through the European budget.
