The Hungarian government has hailed its recent national consultation, Voks 2025, as one of the most successful public opinion polls in history. Speaking on Kossuth Radio, State Secretary Balázs Hidvéghi from the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office emphasized the significance of the referendum, which focused on Ukraine’s potential accession to the European Union.
Hidvéghi revealed that the final count reached 2,284,732 votes, with 2,040,168 cast via paper ballots and 244,564 submitted online. According to him, the high turnout proves that Hungarians understood the importance of the issue and wanted to voice their opinion on a matter that Brussels has been pushing forward ‘without proper debate or national consent’.
He criticized EU leaders for treating Ukraine’s membership as a fait accompli, bypassing meaningful political discussion. Hidvéghi warned that such an approach ‘endangers the EU’s stability’ and clashes with Hungary’s interests.
The votes were evenly distributed across Hungary, with strong participation from counties like Vas, Tolna, Zala, Bács-Kiskun, and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg. Hidvéghi assured that the process was secure, with ballots printed on safety paper and counting verified by notaries.
The government will now take the results to Brussels, where Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is expected to announce the official stance at the EU summit. Hidvéghi framed this as a ‘political battle’, accusing Brussels of forcing Ukraine’s unprepared accession in a ‘dangerous and irresponsible’ manner.
He also took aim at European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, claiming her leadership has been ‘catastrophically poor’, violating national sovereignty and constitutional principles. Hungary, he argued, must resist these trends and ‘restore sanity to European politics’.
Hidvéghi pointed to the recent NATO summit as evidence of changing attitudes, noting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was no longer the central focus. Instead, discussions prioritized Europe’s security and NATO’s strategic interests—a shift Hungary supports.
The state secretary concluded that Orbán’s government is setting an example for other European leaders by prioritizing national sovereignty and public opinion. As debates over Ukraine’s EU bid intensify, Hungary’s stance may inspire others to push back against top-down decision-making in Brussels.
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