A recent survey including 12 countries of the European Union shows that twice as many Hungarians feel free in their everyday life than in Germany, which actively conflicts with both the words and opinions of leading left-wing domestic and international politicians, media reports, and foundations that rank “freedom”.
The survey showed that when asked how free they feel in their everyday life, 88 percent of Hungarians answered they are partially or entirely free (the best result among the twelve countries included in the study). The same ratio in Germany, which came in last place, was only 46 percent.
The survey, based on opinion polls conducted by Datapraxis, YouGov and the Council of European Foreign Relations, a George Soros-funded NGO which conducted the survey in nine of the twelve countries, (Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden), while the same survey was conducted by AnalitiQs in the Netherlands, Alfa in Bulgaria and Szondaphone in Hungary.
The results are also interesting because Brussels rarely misses the opportunity to claim freedom is absent from Hungary or even accuse the country of being an outright dictatorship.
Hungary has been the target of NGO attacks for years. A Soros-funded NGO, Freedom House, ranks Germany as one of the freest countries in the world, giving it a score of 94 out of 100. Hungary, in contrast, is listed as only “partly free” and has a “freedom score” of only 69 out of 100. The organization even claimed that Hungary is “no longer a democracy”.
However, the latest survey results appear to show that the actual citizens of these countries, when directly asked, have a far different opinion than what Freedom House and other organizations are claiming about Hungary and Germany. The Hungarian government has characterized the Freedom House report on Hungary as politically biased and motivated by a desire to smear the conservative government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The result of the Council of European Foreign Relations survey, conducted by an organization that is close to Soros, is all the more surprising as it shows that it is in Hungary where people feel more free, and even trust the government’s measures taken in connection with the coronavirus epidemic.
Orbán has faced severe criticism for his policies from liberal politicians, but which are policies that remain popular back home. For example, on the issue of migration, Hungarians overwhelmingly support the policies of the Hungarian government, and also trust their government more on migration than other EU governments. Orban also continues to maintain one of the most popular governments in the entire EU, which is evidenced by his consistently high approval rating.
Title image: View of downtown Budapest.
