Over the past years, Policy Solutions’ priority has been the publication of studies that analyse the view of Hungarians concerning their country's place and future in the European Union by digging deeper than the standard “remain or leave” question to attain a more nuanced view of the underlying issue. The present study, which is published on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Hungary’s EU accession and its ascension to the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union, continues this tradition: as compared to earlier research, it presents Hungarians’ EU-related attitudes by delving deeper into the issue and looking at it from more angles.

Our study shows which advantages and drawbacks Hungarians are most likely to associate with the European Union in 2024 and how they assess the economic balance of EU membership.We especially highlight the question of how Hungarian voters view the processes ongoing in the European Union and what kind of changes they would like to see in the EU’s priorities: what values should the EU stand for, and what global role should it aspire to? In order to discover what kind of Europe Hungarians want, we also asked them which member states they would want to add to the roster of EU countries. In our study, we also sought to find out what the imprint of the government’s Eurosceptic campaigns has been and how strong the fears and grievances concerning the EU are in Hungarian society. Owing to our previous research on many questions, we were also able to track the changes over time.

"The Balance of Hungary's EU membership - Hungarian attitudes towards the European Union in 2024" can be downloaded from here. 

Key findings: 

- Four out of ten Hungarians knew beforehand that Hungary would be taking over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2024.

- Eighty percent of Hungarians said that, on the whole, EU membership has been beneficial for Hungary. Hungarians believe that EU funds and free movement are the biggest benefits of EU membership.

- The biggest perceived disadvantages of EU membership: excessive regulation and migration are tied at the top

- A majority of Fidesz supporters believe Hungary is a net contributor to the EU. In 2024, half of all Hungarians (50%) said Hungary benefits financially from EU membership. By contrast, slightly over one-third of respondents (35%) said that Hungary is already a net contributor to the EU budget, while 15% said they were uncertain.

- Hungarian society continues to place greater trust in EU institutions than in domestic institutions.

- According to Fidesz voters, the EU currently stands for economic development, while the Tisza Party voters believe it protects democracy, and the Democratic Coalition supporters think it represents peace. 

- In 2024, the notion that the EU should primarily stand for peace has gained further ground among both ruling party and opposition supporters. 

- Hungarian society's openness towards EU enlargement has also deteriorated in general, with six out of ten people rejecting Ukraine's EU membership. In 2024, the candidate country that enjoyed the highest level of support among Hungarians was Montenegro: 44% would support its accession. 

- Two-thirds of Hungarians said that the government should meet all milestones to secure access to the EU funds, but the suspension of the Erasmus programme divides Hungarian society. 

- Sixty-two percent of Hungarians believe that the conditions for joining the eurozone should be met and that the euro should be introduced, while slightly under a third (30%) disagreed. 

"The Balance of Hungary's EU membership - Hungarian attitudes towards the European Union in 2024" can be downloaded from here. 

Authors: András Bíró-Nagy - Kristóf Molnár - Attila Varga 

The study was realised with the support of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Budapest.