Fidesz Maintains Stronghold Among Transylvanian Hungarians, New Poll Suggests

As per tradition, Viktor Orbán speaks at the 33rd Bálványos Summer University in Baile Tusnad (Tusnádfürdő) in Romania, alongside Zsolt Németh and László Tőkés

Viktor Orbán’s famous speech in Tihany (northern shore of Lake Balaton) did not particularly affect his reputation in Transylvania, at least according to a recent survey, Krónika reported.

Based on the survey, Fidesz-KDNP continues to lead by a landslide among Hungarian voters in Transylvania, and a significant majority still want Viktor Orbán to remain Prime Minister of Hungary.

The survey, which was conducted after the Prime Minister’s speech in Tihany, was published by Magyar Nemzet, citing research by SoDiSo Research in Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár). The survey shows that if Hungarian parliamentary elections were held this Sunday, 96 percent of registered Hungarian citizens in Transylvania would vote for Fidesz-KDNP. Meanwhile, 1.4 percent of voters would vote for the largest opposition party, the Tisza party, and 1.7 percent for the Our Homeland Movement (Mi Hazánk). Support for other parties is not measurable.

Fact

The survey was conducted after the speech in Tihany, which caused confusion among Hungarians in Transylvania. Between the two rounds of the Romanian presidential election, the Prime Minister expressed his agreement with George Simion, leader of the extremist nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) and presidential candidate, who said that “now is the time for a Europe of nations, a Christian Europe.” The day after the speech, Viktor Orbán spoke on the phone with Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) President Hunor Kelemen, and the head of government made it clear that the RMDSZ’s position was decisive and that he supported it. It is common knowledge that, the RMDSZ, like other pro-European Romanian parliamentary groups, supported Nicușor Dan in the second round of the presidential election. In the final round the overwhelming majority of Hungarian voters in Transylvania did not vote for the extremist nationalist Simion, but for the mayor of Bucharest. Dan won more than 90 percent of the vote in Harghita County in Szeklerland, 84 percent in Covasna County, and 67 percent in Mures County, which have the highest majority of Hungarians living in Romana.

The poll examined the popularity of these politicians, 89 percent of those surveyed said they would still like to see Viktor Orbán as Hungary’s prime minister. Péter Magyar’s support stands at 4.9 percent. As widely reported, Péter Magyar walked from Budapest to Oradea (Nagyvárad) in response to the Prime Minister’s speech in Tihany. The institute also asked about the politicians’ name recognition. Basically all Hungarians in Transylvania have heard of Viktor Orbán, and his popularity rating is 90 percent.

Sociologist Gergő Barna, managing director of SoDiSo Research, confirmed to Krónika on Wednesday that the poll was conducted by the polling company and that the data cited by Magyar Nemzet is accurate. He added that he was unable to disclose any other data from the survey, but when asked, he said that the research was representative of the adult Hungarian population in Transylvania.

In the 2022 Hungarian parliamentary elections, more than 318,000 expatriate voters cast their ballots by mail. Fidesz secured 94 percent of these votes. Nearly 70 percent of all postal ballots originated from Transylvania, where the overwhelming majority supported the ruling party.

Hungary Today could not independently verify the poll’s data.

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Via Krónika, Magyar Nemzet; Featured photo: MTI/Veres Nándor

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