Some 41.4% of Ukrainians consider the current policy of Hungary regarding the Hungarian national minority in Zakarpattia - financing schools, teachers, providing grants to entrepreneurs, etc. - a preparation for the possible annexation of these territories to Hungary, annexation and occupation, according to the results of a study carried out by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation jointly with the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, commissioned by the Institute for Central European Strategy within the framework of the Re: Open Zakarpattia special project.

According to the study, 19.9% ​​of respondents indicated that "this is actually a friendly assistance to the Hungarian minority in Zakarpattia", and 18.4% - that "this is contributing to the development of the region, provided that the actions of the Hungarian government are consistent with the conditions of the Ukrainian government." Some 20.3% of respondents found it difficult to answer the question.

At the same time, according to the results of a regional survey conducted in August-September in 2020, 31.5% of respondents, representatives of Zakarpattia as a whole, called Hungary's actions a friendly help to the Hungarian minority in Zakarpattia, and another 40% - assistance to the development of the region, provided the consistency of the actions of the Hungarian government with the conditions of the Ukrainian government. Some 10.6% noted that this weakens the Ukrainian national identity and some 17.9% found it difficult to answer the question.

Among representatives of national minorities, 36.8% believe that this is really friendly assistance to the Hungarian minority in Zakarpattia, 24.8% - that this is assistance to the development of the region, provided that the actions of the Hungarian government are coordinated with the conditions of the Ukrainian government. Some 7.2% of the polled representatives of the national minority answered that this weakens the Ukrainian national identity, and 31.2% found it difficult to answer the question.

In addition, from September 2020 to September 2021, the attitude towards Hungarians on the part of respondents in Zakarpattia has significantly improved: if in 2020, only 12% of respondents would like to see Hungarians as family members and another 28% as friends or work colleagues, then in 2021 the share of those who would like to see Hungarians as family members increased to 29%, and as friends - to 28%.

A nationwide survey was conducted from October 22 to November 12, 2021 using the CATI method (computer-assisted telephone interviews) based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers in all regions of Ukraine, except for territories that are temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities - the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, separate areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The sample is representative of the adult population (aged 18 and over) in Ukraine. As a result of the field stage, 2,003 questionnaires were collected.

The statistical error of the sample (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.1) does not exceed: 2.4% for indicators close to 50%, 2.1% - for indicators close to 25%, 1.5% - for indicators close to 10%.