Orban casts vote against Ukraine’s accession to the EU in ongoing nationwide poll

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban voted on April 22 in a national poll opposing Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, publicly sharing photos of himself marking “against” on the ballot.

The poll, announced by Orban in early March, officially launched on April 19 with ballot papers sent to Hungarian citizens, many of which explicitly encouraged them to reject Ukraine’s EU bid.

Orban criticized both Brussels and Hungary’s opposition Tisza party for supporting Ukraine’s membership, claiming it would harm Hungary’s economy and sovereignty.

“This will destroy the Hungarian economy. We won’t allow them to decide our future over our heads. I have already voted," Orban wrote on Facebook.

Orban has been broadly seen as the most Moscow-friendly leader in the EU during Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. The Hungarian prime minister has repeatedly blocked or delayed EU aid packages for Kyiv.

Despite the government's resistance, recent polling shows public support for Ukraine's accession. According to the party of Magyar Tisza's "Voice of the Nation" initiative, which received over 1.1 million responses, 58.18% of participants backed Ukraine's EU bid.

A separate April 7 poll by the Republikon Institute also found a narrow majority of Hungarians in favor of Ukraine joining the bloc.