Hungarian opposition politician and head of the Tisza party, Peter Magyar, publicly declared the government-organized referendum on Ukraine—initiated by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s administration—a failure, reports the Baltimore Chronicle with reference to Facebook.
Magyar noted that no more than 600,000 people participated in the vote and suggested that the results may have been manipulated. According to him, this marks the lowest turnout in the history of Hungary’s National Consultations, despite a months-long campaign, massive mobilization, and the use of tens of billions of forints from public funds.
He emphasized that the vote was held without a single public stand or open meeting. Instead, the campaign consisted solely of mass mailings and an expensive promotional effort funded by the state.
Magyar also criticized the estimated 10 billion forints (approximately $28,600) spent on the referendum, arguing that the money could have been better allocated to hospital repairs or railway modernization.
He further claimed that the current government, which he described as failed and corrupt, is uninterested in addressing the real problems of the people and avoids direct communication with citizens, limiting its efforts to sending letters.
As a reminder, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced a national consultation in March regarding public support for Ukraine’s EU membership. On April 19, Hungarian citizens began receiving ballots encouraging them to vote against Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
Earlier we wrote that Hungary blocks EU Council statement on Russian gas and oil ban.