BUDAPEST, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, gearing up for a tough election in April, said on Friday he would launch a “national petition” seeking backing for his policy of rejecting EU funding for neighbouring Ukraine as it fights a Russian invasion.
With the war showing no sign of ending and Hungary’s economy stagnating, Orban has framed the election as a choice between war and peace, portraying Ukraine as undeserving of support and his government as the only safeguard against conflict and economic spillover.
Since last year, election billboards for Orban’s Fidesz party have sought to associate opposition leader Peter Magyar with Brussels and Ukraine, suggesting that voting for his Tisza party means voting for tanks and war.
Orban’s campaign primarily targets rural voters and echoes his past anti-migrant campaigns as most polls show Fidesz trailing Tisza.
Details of the “petition” were unclear, but it appeared to amount to an informal referendum, in the form of a ballot paper sent to citizens.
“Everybody will get this (national petition) and will get the chance to say ‘no’ and to say, together with the government, that we will not pay,” Orban told state radio on Friday, accusing the opposition of being pro-Ukraine.
Orban said, without citing any evidence, that the European Union would put pressure on Hungary to send its young people to fight in Ukraine, “and there is rightful fear that pro-Ukrainian forces would give in to pressure from Brussels”.
Magyar has said Tisza supports peace in Ukraine, rejects the idea of conscription, and will not support any escalation in the war.
The European Commission on Wednesday put forward its proposal to loan Ukraine 90 billion euros.
In December, when the plan was sealed, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic agreed as long as it did not affect them financially.
A survey in December by Policy Solutions and Zavecz Research indicated growing opposition in Hungary to EU funding for Ukraine. In 2023, 57% were in favour and 41% opposed but, by last year, only 36% were in favour, with 63% against.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than and Anita Komuves; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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