00:00Residents of Budapest line up for food, distributed by a charity on a cold day in December.
00:07These lines are a barometer of Hungary's stagnating economy,
00:11and a dead weight on President Viktor Orban heading into a springtime election.
00:15In an effort to extend his 15-year grip on power, Orban pushed ahead with a pension top-up,
00:21hoping to win over Hungary's 2.4 million retirees, who make up a quarter of the electorate.
00:27And they are struggling.
00:29Herzebeth Bodlik told Reuters she would hardly have anything if not for her two children.
00:36She said food from the charity helps because it means she needs to spend less on food for Christmas.
00:43The pension top-up seems to have given Orban's Fidesz party a small but short-lived boost.
00:48According to a survey by the 21 Research Center,
00:52Fidesz's poll rating rose by one point to 27 percent of all voters before retreating to 26 percent in December.
00:59Over the same period, support for the rival TISA party rose by three points to 34 percent.
01:05Orban's pension top-up will cost $454 million next year, with its price tag rising each following year as it is phased in over the next government cycle.
01:16Daniel Rona is the director of 21 Research Center, the pollster.
01:21He said the pension payout primarily went into the pockets of voters already supportive of Orban and that it might be too late to change national sentiment.
01:29The problem is that it's still negative and it can be changed dramatically in a few months because the time is too short and the amount of money to be distributed is limited.
01:44Orban's reelection bid will be watched far beyond Hungary.
01:48The nationalist who takes a hard-line approach on immigration and gay and trans rights has been a thorn in the side of the European Union.
01:55Orban counts U.S. President Donald Trump as an ally and maintains close ties with Russia's Vladimir Putin.
02:02But the domestic economy is not on his side.
02:05Income tax rebates he pushed through ahead of the 2022 election helped fuel Europe's worst inflationary surge.
02:12At the same time, the annual average full-time salary per employee was the third lowest in the block.
02:19Pensioner Beatrice Agoston said the payout gave her a little boost, but said she was suspicious that future payouts were only election propaganda.
02:31Pensioner Beatrice Agosto
02:38Yes, we have to say that the it must be added to the end of the year.
02:42The thing that we thought was a little bit about, I gave us a good show of getting back to the order.
Comments