The Financial Times reported that Russia is meddling in Hungary ahead of early April’s next parliamentary elections through an online disinformation campaign aimed at lionizing incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orban and denigrating his opponent Peter Magyar among voters. To that end, it’s allegedly relying on Hungarian influencers to disseminate these narratives, but this claim insultingly implies that those who believe the aforesaid on their own lack agency and are Russia’s “useful idiots”.
While Russia would prefer for Orban to be re-elected since he pragmatically opposes the West’s proxy war on it through Ukraine and refused to cut off energy imports from it for equally pragmatic reasons, these policies are also genuinely popular in Hungary, ergo why voters promote him on their own online. To be sure, there’s also always been a genuine opposition movement in Hungary too, but it’s backed by the EU and Ukraine through their meddling in the country. This in turn delegitimizes them and Magyar.
Their employed means consist of the EU withholding funds from Hungary on “rule of law” pretexts in the hopes of turning voters against Orban, Ukraine delaying the resumption of oil through the Druzhba pipeline across its territory on technical pretexts for the same reason, and both criticizing Orban. With these facts in mind, and there’s no denying them since they objectively exist, it can be concluded that the West’s accusation of Russian meddling is actually a confession. Here are three background briefings:
* 19 September 2025: “Hungary Warned About Brussels’ Three Regime Change Plots In Central Europe”
* 13 February 2026: “Orban Is Right: Ukraine Has Truly Become Hungary’s Enemy”
* 18 February 2026: “Slovakia & Hungary Shouldn’t Be Fooled By The US’ Feigned Friendship”
To briefly review for those readers with limited time, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto raised awareness last August about the EU’s efforts to meddle in early April’s next parliamentary elections. Nearly half a year later, relations with Ukraine deteriorated due to its weaponization of energy that was touched upon above, but then Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Budapest and endorsed Orban. The US didn’t condemn Ukraine’s aforesaid hybrid attack on Hungary, however, nor pressure it to stop.
This in turn proves that its friendship is feigned to a large degree, although it’s also true that the US would prefer for Orban to be re-elected since his conservative-nationalist outlook aligns with Trump’s. Nevertheless, his EU- and Ukrainian-backed “democratic ouster” would accelerate the US’ envisaged replacement of Russian energy with its own on the Hungarian market, not to mention likely seeing Hungary arm and finance Ukraine for perpetuating the US’ profitable proxy war on Russia.
US interests are therefore expected to be advanced no matter whether the EU and Ukraine succeed in manipulating voters into deposing Orban. If he’s re-elected, Hungary will continue to serve as a conservative bastion in Europe in alignment with the regional ideological aspect of the US’ National Security Strategy and the new world order that it envisages, while his ouster could be immediately profitable. Ultimately, it’s Hungarians’ choice, and they’re the ones who’ll live with the consequences.
