this post was submitted on 04 Jun 2026
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Mildly Interesting
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A tiny bit of context:
~~Hungary just had national elections ~2 months ago, finally pulling the handbrake and getting rid of the previous government's 16 year old reign. The previous PM (Orbán) had been inching closer to Russia every year, and this year the elections were (among many other things) basically about showing loyalty to Europe instead of taking the final step on the slippery slope and becoming a Russian lapdog again. Since the opposition was the strongest in the capital city, chances are the (only?) red colour on the map represents this, and not Budapest's all-time excitement over the EU.~~
EDIT: Heh, I didn't realise the map is from 2021. While the situation has been the case for a while (Orbán announced the opening toward the East way back in the 2010's), there is a good chance I have completely missed the point.
Also, historical Hungary used to be larger at one point in history, which could (partially?) explain the regional colours in Western Romania and Eastern Austria. Not even necessarily because of the nationality in mind, but it certainly had an influence over culture and politics.
I'm not an expert on Germany, but ~~their regional divide might be in part due to the East-West divide after WW2~~ EDIT: I'm indeed not an expert on Germany. Please correct me if I'm wrong, since there's a good chance.
(also, OP, I think you wanted to spell 'feel' in the title)
You're indeed wrong about Germany, the different attachments don't follow the iron curtain at all. Both west-and east Germany have regions with different attachment color.
Most of the regions with a strong regional attachment seem to correspond to the larger independent states before German unification in the 19th century: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_of_Germany. Mecklenburg, Wurttemberg, Bayern and Upper Saxony are all 4 recognizable on the map of the op. The bit below Denmark was ruled in a personal union by the Danish monarch before the unification wars.
France tried their best to split Saarland off from Germany several times, which might explain their strong regional attachment.
Well, at least I was right about me being wrong. I guess it's Friday again.
Sorry, and thanks for the correction! Today I learned.
The image notes that the survey was conducted in 2021. Would that change your assessment?
Haha, lol, I didn't even notice that : ). TBF it's been a topic for a few years already, but in that case it might have been a different reason just as well.
I think you were right about opposition being strongest in the capital My experience is big cities are more pro-european in general and rural villages generally more 'pro-region', I don't know about Hungary in particular but i wouldn't be surprised if that were true there too, not just since Orbán left but also in ~~2022~~ 2021
Definitely for at least decades, if not for eons. Obviously there are exceptions, but on average the countryside is just not as open and accepting as the average large city dweller.
You see this with support for progressive / conservative policies too. Must be countless studies into what the cause is for this effect.
Hungary = Mongol horde