EU funds 5 August 2020, 9:44am

76% of Hungarians support joining European Public Prosecutor's Office

Portfolio

The decisive majority of Hungarians believe that a substantial part of EU development funding ends up in private coffers through corruption, and even among supporters of the governing Fidesz party 70% think EU funds are not used appropriately and are turning into private wealth, a survey by the Publicus Institute commissioned by Népszava found. As a result, 76% of Hungarians support joining the European Public Prosecutor's Office, including 51% of Fidesz supporters.

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The European Public Prosecutor's Office will begin operations in 2021 in 22 EU member states but not in Hungary, Poland, Denmark, Sweden and Ireland.

According to the survey, 87% of Hungarians believe the EU should supervise the use of funds more closely, a sentiment also shared by 70% of Fidesz voters.

Overall, 76% of Hungarians support joining European Public Prosecutor's Office, including 51% of Fidesz supporters

The Hungarian government does not wish to join the body, saying that there are already enough European anti-crime organisations (OLAF, Eurojust, Europol), even though none of these have investigative powers.

Cover photo: Armin Weigel/picture alliance via Getty Images