Endre Hann, Median’s director, told a news conference that in 2014, overall 23% of respondents declared an emotional antipathy towards Jews, slightly fewer than the previous year, though the easing is within the margin of error.

Hann noted that 10% of respondents to the same question declared the same negative attitudes in 2009, and this had risen to 28% by 2010, in parallel with the increasing popularity of radical nationalist party Jobbik.

The proportion on anti-Semites in Hungarian society runs in parallel with the prevalence of attitudes such as “there is a secret Jewish conspiracy” or “the influence of Jews in today’s Hungary is too great”, he noted.

The survey considered three groups: those with a strongly felt affinity with such statements, those who agree with many of them and those who absolutely reject them. In 2013, fully 38% belonged to the category of moderate-to-strong anti- Semites and this dropped to 32% last year. Hann said the numbers were not especially alarming in European comparison.

He said negative attitudes towards Jews were more widespread in the capital last year, and this had not been apparent in 2013.

According to Medián, there was no significant connection between anti- Semitism and education attainment, social status or income level. But a correlation was seen in terms of political sympathy: two-thirds of Jobbik supporters were anti-Semitic, and most of these were strongly so.

People on the right wing were slightly more susceptible to feeling a dislike for Jews. Among Socialist supporters, 16 % were felt strongly against Jews. Hann said anti-Semitism is not a “central issue” for a major part of Hungarian society.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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