Foreign policy has definitively entered Hungarian domestic politics in recent years. Issues related to the Russia–Ukraine war were not only central themes of the parliamentary election campaign four years ago and the 2024 European Parliament elections, but governing parties are also framing their 2026 campaign around the question of “war or peace.” Hungary’s foreign policy orientation has likewise become a key issue in domestic public life. The debate is fueled not only by the Orbán government’s visibly strained relations with European partners, but also by the “Eastern Opening” strategy and Hungary’s unusually close ties with Russia. In this politically and geopolitically tense environment, it is particularly relevant to examine how Hungarians perceive the country’s international position and foreign relations.
Policy Solutions’ comprehensive foreign policy attitudes survey explores how the Hungarian public viewed the world in 2025. The aim of this study is to present how Hungarian society perceives the country’s place in the world and how it evaluates key international issues, conflicts, and actors. We examined the level of awareness and popularity of leading global political figures and public personalities in Hungary and conducted a detailed analysis of perceptions of the United States and China. A separate chapter focuses on Hungary’s relations with international organizations, with particular attention paid to NATO membership.
As in previous years, our 2025 publication devoted special attention to attitudes related to the Russian–Ukrainian war. Survey participants were asked about EU and Hungarian support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia. We also examined the extent to which Hungarians fear the risk of war and, based on five survey waves, analyzed how perceptions of the credibility of Western/Ukrainian versus Kremlin narratives have changed over the past two years.
Key findings:
- A majority of Hungarians reject rapprochement with Russia and prefer alignment with the West. In 2025, 60% of respondents agreed with the statement that “Hungary traditionally belongs to the West in terms of values, so it should strive toward the West in the future”. By contrast, only 11% believed that Hungary should not adhere to a Western orientation, while more than a quarter of respondents (28%) expressed a neutral stance.
- Among Hungarian voters, Austria enjoys the most positive image; perceptions of both Russia and Ukraine are predominantly negative.
- Fidesz voters view Ukraine as more dangerous, while opposition voters see Russia as the greater threat.
- Broad cross-party support for NATO membership. An overwhelming majority of Hungarians (79%) would vote to remain a member, while only 11% stated that they would support withdrawal. There is no meaningful political polarization on this issue: among supporters of all parties, a clear majority views NATO membership positively.
- War-related fears are slowly fading. Half of Hungarians disagreed with the statement that Hungary could be drawn into the Russian–Ukrainian war, while 46% expressed some degree of concern. Two years ago, nearly 60% of respondents feared that Hungary could be drawn into the war; this figure fell to 49% in 2024 and declined by a further three percentage points by autumn 2025.
- Hungarian society is becoming increasingly less solidaristic toward Ukraine. Opposition to EU financial support for Ukraine has grown steadily. Two years ago, supportive views still dominated among Hungarians (57% in favor, 41% opposed), but by 2024 the balance had reversed (40% in favor vs. 56% opposed). By 2025, support fell further to 36%, while opposition rose to 63%.
- Two-thirds of Hungarians (64%) oppose Ukraine’s EU membership, while slightly less than one-third of respondents (31%) expressed a positive view.
- Vladimir Putin (95%), Donald Trump (94%), and Volodymyr Zelenskyy (92%) are the most widely known foreign public figures in Hungary.
- Pope Leo XIV is the most popular; Putin and Zelenskyy are the two most unpopular international public figures in Hungary.
Authors: András Bíró-Nagy - Bálint Katona - Lívia Kósa - Kristóf Molnár - Attila Varga
Policy Solutions is a progressive political research institute based in Budapest. It was founded in 2008 and it is committed to the values of liberal democracy, solidarity, equal opportunity, sustainability and European integration. The focus of Policy Solutions’ work is on understanding political processes in Hungary and the European Union. Among the pre-eminent areas of our research are the investigation of how the quality of democracy evolves, the analysis of factors driving euroscepticism, populism and the far-right, and election research.
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