Four-fifths (82 percent) of the total population, and even three-quarters (76 percent) of left-wing voters consider Hungary's eastern neighbor unprepared for EU accession, as a public opinion poll by Real-PR 93 reveals, showing that the Hungarian population almost unanimously believes that currently, Ukraine does not meet the conditions for joining the European Union.
While EU leaders are strongly pushing for Ukraine to join the EU as soon as possible, the Hungarian government voices concerns, stressing that Hungary's eastern neighbor is not even ready to open accession negotiations. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban insists that the EU must not start membership talks with Ukraine, but should strengthen relations through a strategic partnership instead, and should clarify important issues affecting minority rights, trade in agricultural products, customs and security.
At least four-fifths of the Hungarian population sharing the same opinion on political issues is a rather rare occurrence, but Ukraine's joining of the European Union is such.
The survey findings show that 82 percent of Hungarians think that Ukraine falls short of meeting conditions required for joining the EU, with only eight percent disagreeing, and the number of those who could not or did not want to form an opinion on the subject is even higher.
The share of those who think Ukraine is unprepared is even higher by a few percent, at 85 percent, if only decided voters are taken, and in this same category, only eight percent believe that Ukraine can meet the conditions for EU membership.
The opinion poll shows that, regardless of party sympathies, those who consider Ukraine unfit to join the EU constitute a large majority.
With 76 percent, even voters of left-wing parties hold this opinion, while this figure is higher for Fidesz voters, reaching 94 per cent.
Mere 18 percent of leftist voters think Ukraine is fit to join the EU. The results are independent of sociological characteristics, and this is true when comparing the opinions of individuals living in Budapest and in rural areas, as well as when comparing opinions of different age groups.
Eighty percent of those living in Budapest think that Hungary's war-torn eastern neighbor is unprepared to join the EU, with the figure rising by three percent for people living in rural areas. This figure reaches 77 percent for young people aged below forty, and 84-85 percent for older age groups, while the proportion of those disagreeing is around ten percent regardless of residence and age.
