According to a recent analysis released on Friday by the Center for Fundamental Rights Hungarians have protested at Brussels’ elitist politics through the national consultation that concluded earlier this month.
The analysis highlights that the national consultation once again proved that Brussels, along with the continental and domestic liberal-left, is not in conflict with the Hungarian government but rather with the Hungarian people. It points out that Ursula von der Leyen, on the very day the national consultation concluded, openly stated that the European Commission is withholding a larger portion of the EU funds owed to Hungary due to the rejection of gender ideology targeting Hungarian children and opposition to allowing migrants into the country. Voters expressed opinions on these key issues in unprecedented unity in previous referendums, and the same sentiment has been expressed in the responses to the consultation questionnaires.
The participants in the consultation expressed a unified opinion on one of the issues Brussels has cited as the reason for blocking funding: 1,519,899 people said they oppose the creation of migrant ghettos. Similarly high numbers expressed support for the child protection law, with 1,507,809 expecting a stricter regulation. The rejection of arms shipments to Ukraine and support for the ceasefire and peace (1,521,445 citizens) also stands out.
The analysis contends that the consultation demonstrated that the government policies have clear democratic legitimacy regarding these issues. The Center for Fundamental Rights suggests that it is not surprising that the return rate of the national consultation on sovereignty was among the highest since 2010.
This is attributed to the increasingly transparent intervention attempts by Washington and Brussels.
According to the analysis, the dialogue between Hungarians and their government, in addition to reinforcing existing points, has brought new national consensus points to the surface. It is evident that voters do not want to relinquish their right to decide on the country’s affairs, defending national sovereignty. People expect a firm stance against foreign interventions. Additionally, they stand by the farmers and do not want the Ukrainian agricultural sector to flood the domestic market with low-quality genetically modified crops.
The analysis underscores that of the 1.5 million respondents, at least 1,480,000 respondents expressed identical opinions on all questions.
The national consultation, with over 1.5 million responses, brought the fourth most significant participation in the last thirteen years. Moreover, more people returned the forms than those who supported any of the left-wing parties in the most recent European Parliament election.
The analysis concludes that the predominantly oppositional players below the five per cent entry threshold still struggle to handle the fact that the government successfully identifies and reinforces national consensus points through this procedure.
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Sources: Hungarian Conservative/Center for Fundamental Rights/MTI
