With elections scheduled for next spring, and his right-wing Fidesz party slipping in the polls, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is desperately seeking ways to discredit his principal opponent in order to boost his own chances of reelection. And in his desperation, he’s just making stuff up as he goes along.

(Hmm . . . that sounds strangely like someone else I could name. But that’s a whole different nightmare.)

Orban has long been vocally pro-Putin, refusing to supply weapons to Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion, or even to allow them to transit from other countries through Hungary’s territory. Instead, he continues to demand that sanctions issued against Russia be lifted, and vehemently opposes EU membership for Ukraine.

But now he’s truly gone off the deep end, accusing his leading political opponent — Peter Magyar — of “entering into a treasonous pact with Kyiv to overthrow his government and install a pro-Western, pro-Ukraine administration.” [Justin Spike, AP, June 20, 2025.]

In comments on state radio earlier this month, Orban said:

“Let’s be under no illusions: Brussels and Ukraine are jointly building up a puppet government [in Hungary]. They want to change Hungary’s policy toward Ukraine after the next elections, or even sooner.” [Id.]

Bizarrely, he claims that Ukraine’s becoming a member of the EU would flood Hungary with crime, cheap labor, and low-quality agricultural products, thus threatening national sovereignty and economic stability.

But wait . . . it gets better. He also says that Brussels and Kyiv plan to force Hungarians to fight Russia on the front lines on Ukraine’s behalf. He has even posted a video to his social media page depicting AI-generated animated scenes of wounded, machine-gun-toting Hungarian soldiers engaged in battle, with rows of caskets beneath Hungarian flags.

“We don’t want our children, in the form of the Hungarian army, to be deployed to the Ukrainian front lines or to Ukrainian territory and to come back in coffins,” he says in the video. [Id.]

Orban’s delusional smear campaign is an obvious attempt to discredit an opponent who is gaining in popular support. Peter Kreko, director of the Budapest-based Political Capital think tank, says:

“There is an ongoing campaign against any critical voices in Hungary saying that they are agents of Ukraine, and this can be used also against [Peter Magyar’s] Tisza party. If you can’t win back public opinion anymore, then you can try to use a more authoritarian toolkit.” [Id.]

Unfortunately, this doesn’t end with verbal accusations. In May, Ukraine’s main security agency arrested two people on suspicion of spying for Hungary by trying to gather intelligence on Ukraine’s military defenses in the western part of the country. Diplomats were expelled on both sides, and Orban accused Magyar and the Tisza party of orchestrating the affair in order to undermine him.

Orban then further accused Magyar and a prominent Tisza member — without evidence — of having “deep ties with Ukrainian intelligence.” [Id.]

*. *. *

It’s hardly news that politics is a dirty business. But when a political campaign is based — not only on lies and false promises — but on paranoid, conspiracy-driven fantasies, it’s time to take stock of the people running, or hoping to run, the country.

Any country.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/23/25