“Transcarpathian Hungarians are closer to Ukraine than to Hungary in their assessment of the war” – survey.

On July 10, the Uzhhorod Press Club hosted a presentation of the results of a sociological survey titled “Public Sentiments and Guidelines of Transcarpathian Hungarians.”

The last time a similar study was conducted was by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation in 2021, which focused on the issues of Transcarpathia’s minorities. The purpose of this study was to find out the sentiments among Transcarpathian Hungarians regarding their assessment of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Pavlo Karaichentsev, chief analyst at the SmartPoll sociological agency, explained the relevance of the study: “The Hungarian community undoubtedly exists in its own information field and is connected to Hungary’s information field, which shapes specific public sentiments. At the same time, the study of this issue has not received proper attention. Because of this, it was often replaced by speculations and stereotypes.”

Interestingly, the results of the study among Transcarpathian Hungarians were compared with the results of surveys conducted in Hungary and other neighboring countries by the Slovak think tank Globsec.

Dmytro Afanasiev, associate professor at the Department of Sociology and Social Work at UzhNU (Uzhhorod National University): “Our department is a leading institution in the region in the field of public opinion research. Such surveys are not only of public but also of scientific interest. These studies should be ongoing – our university’s capabilities allow us to conduct unique research in minority languages.”

Janos Mesko, director of the “Hungarian-Language Education” charitable foundation: “Studying the sentiments in the Hungarian community is extremely important. It is a sustainable community with its own culture, and it is clear that there should be more of such studies.”

The main part of the questions related to assessments of the war and related topics. According to sociologists, Transcarpathian Hungarians are largely integrated into Hungary’s information space, and this definitely affects their views, which have their own specificities and differ from those of the general Ukrainian public.

However, Transcarpathian Hungarians differ significantly in their views on the war from the residents of Hungary and are closer to the views characteristic of the residents of Ukraine. The understanding of a shared destiny with Ukrainians and Ukraine as the state in which they live is still the decisive factor shaping their views on the key issues of the current war – which is exactly what the study results demonstrate.

The sociologists also emphasized that urban residents, young people, and people with higher education demonstrate indicators that are more similar to the overall figures for Ukraine.

Regarding the issue of Russia’s responsibility for the war, 71.4% of Hungarians living in Transcarpathia believe that Russia is the one responsible for the aggression. In Hungary, according to the Globsec study, the share of the population that holds Russia responsible for the war is 54%.

When asked whether Russia poses a threat to peace in Europe, 67.3% of Transcarpathian Hungarians answered in the affirmative. In Hungary, this figure is 48%.

53.6% of Transcarpathian Hungarians believe that Hungary should provide weapons to Ukraine, 28.8% are against it, and 17.6% found it difficult to answer.

There was also a block of questions regarding trust in country leaders:

• Joseph Biden: completely trust – 24.3%, somewhat trust – 20.2%, completely distrust – 19.1%, somewhat distrust – 16.1%, do not know him – 5.4%, difficult to answer – 14.9%.
• Emmanuel Macron: completely trust – 18.2%, somewhat trust – 23.6%, completely distrust – 22.8%, somewhat distrust – 16.8%, do not know him – 3%, difficult to answer – 15.6%.
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy: completely trust – 41.2%, somewhat trust – 22.3%, completely distrust – 10.2%, somewhat distrust – 12.3%, do not know him – 2.9%, difficult to answer – 11.1%.
• Vladimir Putin: completely trust – 4.8%, somewhat trust – 6.5%, completely distrust – 51.9%, somewhat distrust – 14.8%, do not know him – 5.3%, difficult to answer – 16.7%.

Regarding trust in local leaders of the Hungarian community, the following answers were obtained:

• Ildiko Orosz: completely trust – 42.6%, somewhat trust – 12.6%, completely distrust – 4%, somewhat distrust – 2.6%, do not know her – 30.3%, difficult to answer – 7.9%.
• Judita Petei: completely trust – 20.4%, somewhat trust – 7.3%, completely distrust – 3.2%, somewhat distrust – 2.2%, do not know her – 62.90%, difficult to answer – 4%.
• Vasyl Brenzovych: completely trust – 55.3%, somewhat trust – 12.7%, completely distrust – 5.3%, somewhat distrust – 5.5%, do not know him – 13.7%, difficult to answer – 7.5%.
• Laszlo Zubanych: completely trust – 37.6%, somewhat trust – 9.1%, completely distrust – 5.1%, somewhat distrust – 4.6%, do not know him – 38.2%, difficult to answer – 5.4%.
• Zoltan Babiak: completely trust – 39.1%, somewhat trust – 11.8%, completely distrust – 4%, somewhat distrust – 3%, do not know him – 35.6%, difficult to answer – 6.5%.

The study confirmed that the Hungarian population in Transcarpathia largely lives in Hungary’s information field. The leaders are Hungarian media (RTL, TV2), which are significantly ahead of the rest.

Among local media, the most popular among Hungarians is Channel 21, which broadcasts in Hungarian. The “United News” telethon and the regional studio of “Suspilne” (Public Broadcasting) fall significantly behind Hungarian-language channels as a source of information.

The survey was conducted by the SmartPoll sociological agency in collaboration with the Department of Sociology and Social Work at UzhNU. The field stage of the research was conducted from July 2 to July 5 and covered 510 respondents – residents of the Transcarpathian region who identified themselves as Hungarians. The survey was conducted in 18 settlements – both in those where Hungarians make up the absolute majority and in those with a mixed population. The settlements where the survey was conducted included 5 cities and 13 villages.

The sociologists specifically emphasized that the interviewers conducted the survey in Hungarian, which made it possible to reach even those representatives of the Hungarian community who are not typically included in sociological surveys.

* According to the 2001 census, 1.254 million people lived in Transcarpathia. The share of Hungarians was 12% (151.5 thousand people).