Skepticism in the EU is increasing – exit policy: Hungarians dream of Huxit?

According to a survey by the American pollster Pew Research Center, support for the European Union has fallen by ten percentage points in just one year. 39 percent of Hungarians have a negative attitude towards the EU, which is eight percentage points above the EU average. However, experts do not see a “Huxit” on the horizon.

Finally, recent surveys also show that more than 70 percent of Hungarians, including voters for the ruling Fidesz party, are in favor of the country remaining in the EU and NATO, as political scientist Zoltán Kiszely highlights. A possible EU exit referendum would be difficult for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to win. In 2003, 83.8 percent voted ‘yes’ in the EU accession referendum, with a turnout of 45.6 percent.

Orbán for reforms
“Prime Minister Orbán said that you do not have to leave the Union, but rather reform it,” Kiszely quoted the Prime Minister as saying. A Huxit can only become a reality in five to ten years when Hungary becomes a net contributor to the EU budget, says Hungarian university professor András Hettyey, according to the online portal “Dailynewshungary.com”. He described the relationship between the EU and Hungary as a “difficult marriage”.

The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) accuses the right-wing national prime minister of pursuing a creeping Huxit policy. Orbán is trying with all means, including his anti-EU propaganda, to eradicate the Hungarians’ desire to belong to Europe, criticized DK MEP Klara Dobrev.

Poster campaign against the President of the European Commission
Orbán’s anti-Brussels campaign, such as the poster campaign against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, is seen as the cause of the decline in EU supporters. “We will not dance to their tune,” the posters said. Also featured was Alexander Soros, the son of Orbán’s public enemy number one George Soros.

The Pew survey shows a striking difference between left-wing and right-wing voters when it comes to enthusiasm for the EU. While only 54 percent of right-wing voters support the EU, this is 81 percent of left-wing voters. Only in the Netherlands is the left-right gap even greater.

Economic ‘suicide’
Economists Gábor Gulácsi and Àdám Kérenyi pointed out in the online portal “tudas.hu” that leaving the EU would amount to “suicide” for the Hungarian economy and consumers. According to a 2022 study, a Huxit would reduce Hungary’s real income by 20 percent. The biggest impact would not be the abolition of EU subsidies, but rather the absence of customs duties and the internal market. The study also did not investigate what (additional) effects an EU exit would have on the investments of Asian companies in Hungary, which would lose their access to the EU market in the event of a Huxit.