Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz government launched its VOKS 2025 National Consultation on April 2, asking participants to vote on Ukraine’s EU membership. Along with a single question: “Do you support Ukraine becoming a member of the European Union?” the government included a list of the risks it believes Ukraine’s accession poses to Hungary, which it asks participants to consider carefully before making a decision. The envelopes started to be delivered on April 14. Citizens have until June 20 to return their vote.
Rightist opposition party Tisza held its own poll, dubbed the “Voice of the Nation,” between March 24 and April 11, which posed 13 questions to participants, ranging from domestic policy preferences, such as a tax reduction on healthy foods and income, to international concerns, like EU and NATO membership and Ukraine’s EU accession. The results of the poll, in which 1.137 million people participated, were announced on April 13.
While most of the issues received an overwhelmingly affirmative response, the matter of Ukraine’s accession was a little less enthusiastic. In response to the question, “Do you support Ukraine becoming a member of the European Union?” some 58.18% of respondents said yes, while 41.92% said no.
Commenting on the results in a video posted on Facebook on April 14, Orbán said the approval signaled “the birth of a pact between Brussels and Tisza.” According to Orbán, “Brussels is helping Ukraine-friendly Tisza to assume power in Hungary, while Tisza supports Ukraine’s EU accession in turn,” which he claimed could “destroy the Hungarian economy.” Rather than accept this arrangement, Orbán encouraged voters to participate in the government’s VOKS 2025 referendum on Ukraine’s EU membership.
Tisza Party leader Péter Magyar responded by accusing the PM of “lying” about Ukraine’s EU accession prospects in a post on his Facebook page later that same day. “Every day he gets weaker [polling] numbers […] so he’s forced to lie even about the most obvious things,” Magyar said. While he acknowledged Tisza’s position on Ukraine’s EU accession, he rejected Orbán’s characterization, saying “the issue divided” the participants.
Magyar instead pledged that when all the conditions and the planned date of Ukraine’s EU accession became known, which he admitted could take up to two decades, Tisza would call a legally binding referendum on the matter.
Meanwhile, Balázs Barkóczi, MP of the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK), called on the National Election Committee (NVB) to make a decision on his party’s initiative to hold such a legally binding referendum on Ukraine’s EU accession. Barkóczi said the party supports Ukraine’s EU membership once it meets the required criteria.
Barkóczi criticized Fidesz and Tisza for focusing on “pseudo-consultations” while DK actively pursued a national referendum. He also claimed that the right-wing parties have a vested interest in preventing such a referendum, while Hungary’s true interest lies in allowing its citizens to decide, adding, “We are not afraid to ask people’s opinion about this.”
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of April 22, 2025.
Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For over 30 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.
