One can only hope.

The corrupt, autocratic, Putin-friendly Prime Minister of Hungary is just a month away from election day; and, after serving four consecutive terms in office, he and his right-wing Fidesz Party are now trailing his opponent, Peter Magyar, 39% to 50% in the latest poll. [Nick Thorpe, BBC, March 12, 2026.]

Orban is a desperate man, and desperate people often do crazy things. In this case, he has launched a fear campaign in order to convince the Hungarian voters that he is the only leader who can keep them safe. He has claimed, without substantiation, that there have been threats of physical violence against him and his family, as well as the likelihood of imminent attacks and acts of sabotage against their country . . . from Ukraine.

Yes, the same Ukraine that has been fighting for its very existence for the past four years — whose people have just barely survived one of the harshest winters on record with little or no heat, electricity, fresh water, or undamaged shelter — are now supposedly spending their time plotting terror attacks against Hungary.

The same Ukraine — whose own fuel supplies have been disrupted by Russian drone attacks on its production facilities, including a January 27th strike on the Brody oil hub resulting in a shutdown of the Druzhba pipeline that also serves other European countries — are allegedly delaying the restoration of the system in order to spite Viktor Orban.

Or that’s what he would have you believe.

Hungary relies on that pipeline for its fuel supplies. But rather than place the blame where it lies — on his benefactor Vladimir Putin for the continued battering of Ukraine’s vital infrastructure — Orban is faulting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for not having repaired the pipeline, and has accused him of intentionally delaying repairs in order to impede Orban’s reelection campaign. [Id.]

In truth, work on the damaged storage tank — which contained 75 million liters of crude oil that had to be pumped into the pipeline for temporary storage — is underway. But experts have estimated that it will take approximately six weeks to complete. [Id.]

Orban also overlooks the fact that, while most of Europe has stopped buying Russian oil in protest against the war in Ukraine and managed to find other sources, he has not. It is that Russian oil that has continued to flow through the Druzhba pipline in accordance with a multinational agreement reached after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine in order to protect Central European supplies, helping to finance Russia’s “special military operation.” And it is Russia’s attack that has disrupted the flow of oil to Hungary — not Ukraine’s inability to wave a magic wand and fix the problem overnight.

So this campaign is obviously a ploy — an act of desperation — on Orban’s part, in hopes of saving his job. In the meantime, poor Ukraine is again being made the scapegoat for Russia’s actions . . . first from Donald Trump, and now from Viktor Orban.

So sorry, President Zelensky. It seems as though you just can’t catch a break. Let’s hope the voters in Hungary will do the right thing, and remove at least one albatross from around your neck so that you can concentrate on saving your country.

*. *. *

But perhaps the bigger problem is not Orban himself, but the willingness — indeed, the eagerness — of two allegedly opposing sides to cooperate in taking advantage of his vulnerability for their own purposes: Russia and the United States.

Consider this:

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump each hope to put an end to the war in Ukraine, regardless of the cost to Ukraine’s future — Putin to gain territory and begin rebuilding Russia’s economy, and Trump for the bragging rights as the “Peace President.” And Viktor Orban, who desperately needs all the help he can get, seems to have no problem in being used by both of them, as long as he gets his oil and keeps his job.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/13/26