The Hungarian government on Friday launched a “national consultation” billed as “protecting” the country against alleged European Union policies, including war-torn Ukraine’s potential membership of the bloc.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s nationalist government has, since 2015, frequently used such questionnaires, backed by extensive multimedia campaigns, to claim legitimacy for its positions and to attack EU policies.
The taxpayer-funded survey — entitled “National consultation on the defence of our sovereignty” — has no legal weight.
But on November 10 Orban said if the government obtained “confirmation” of its policies in the questionnaire, it could continue to “hold out” in its battle with Brussels over migration, which he previously said had a “clear link (with) terrorist acts”.
For each of the 11 questions in the survey, respondents have only two alternatives to choose from.
In all but one instance, the first option is to support the Hungarian government’s stance and object to the EU’s supposed policies.
The second is to accept them.
Hungary is a member of the 27-nation bloc but Orban regularly clashes with his country’s EU partners,…
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