Less than a month before the European elections, Hungary’s ruling conservative Fidesz’s message dominates the topics that Hungarians are more interested in, political analyst András Keszthelyi writes for Magyar Nemzet.
A Eurobarometer poll – conducted in February but released only recently – shows that 57 percent of Hungarians know the date of the upcoming European elections (May 23rd to 26th, and within that May 26th in Hungary) than the average citizens of the EU, only 38 percent of whom gave a correct answer when asked about the date.
Rmx.news points out that the same poll also shows that Hungary is second only to Malta in the percentage of citizens who remember having seen ads encouraging them to vote (51 percent against Malta’s 61 percent).
But the above two statistics only gain a deeper meaning when taken with the third, showing the topics voters find most important in these elections. Four of the top six issues (immigration, defense of the EU’s external borders, overall defense policy and the fight against terrorism) are clearly dominated by the messages of the ruling Fidesz party. It may easily come out on top with regard to the fifth topic (economy and economic growth), given the country’s good economic indicators.
Nobody really speaks about the sixth topic, youth unemployment. A Hungarian poll by Medián also indicates that the number of undecided voters is falling and voter turnout could be around 50 percent.
After the imminent victory of Fidesz, opposition parties may cry out about the former’s perceived media dominance, but sooner or later the real question will have to be asked: why are opposition parties not addressing the issues that most concern the voters?