Keno Verseck Editor, writer and reporter – DW – 14.3.2026
Viktor Orban has long been pro-Russia. Now, there are signs that the Kremlin is working to secure his reelection and turning Hungary’s election into a referendum on whether voters want to be closer to the EU or Russia
The small black plaque on the facade of house No. 99 on Budapest’s grand Andrassy Boulevard marks an episode that happened in November 1956, when Soviet troops invaded Hungary and brutally crushed the country’s short-lived uprising against the Communist Party. Some Soviet soldiers refused to take part in the bloodbath against the Hungarian freedom fighters — and were shot as a result.
The executions took place at the palace diagonally across the street from the plaque, inside what was then the Soviet Embassy, and is now the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Hungary. Some Kremlin officials still view the 1956 Hungarian Revolution as a “fascist uprising.” Russia, which in many respects sees itself as the successor to the Soviet Union, never apologized for what happened in 1956.
Now, nearly 70 years later, Russia’s embassy in Budapest is reportedly serving a Kremlin-run part-time command center for Hungary’s election campaign. In collaboration with Prime Minister Viktor Orban, his government and his Fidesz party, the Kremlin is reportedly organizing smear campaigns against opposition candidate Peter Magyar. This has been suggested by a number of investigative journalists, as well as leaks from a session in the Hungarian parliament.
Russia’s ‘political technologists’
It has been clear for months that the parliamentary election on April 12 will determine whether Hungary’s future tilts east or west. But recent developments have intensified these discussions: Vladimir Putin’s statements on Hungary, as well as Russia’s covert influence, show that the Hungarian election will ultimately be a geopolitical issue. At stake is Hungary’s allegiance to the European Union or to Russia.
Hungarian investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi
Last week, the Hungarian investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi, of the Vsquare news website, cited sources from European intelligence agencies in reporting that a three-person team of so-called political technologists had traveled to Hungary to help Orban secure another election victory. In Russia, the term “political technologists” refers to the advisers behind Putin’s string of election victories.
Panyi told DW that he had obtained information on interference by Russia ahead of Hungary’s election from three different European intelligence sources. The Russian operatives are reportedly working under the supervision of Sergey Kiriyenko, deputy head of the presidential administration. Their task is to organize a social media campaign targeting Magyar and his Tisza Party.
“The Orban government’s narrative on social media has been weak and unsuccessful so far,” Panyi said. “The Russians want to help Orban take the campaign to a new level with their troll army, manipulation of the algorithm and fear-mongering content.”
Warnings from EU intelligence agencies
Shortly after Panyi’s report was published, media reported on a confidential meeting of the National Security Committee in Hungary’s parliament, where warnings from intelligence agencies regarding Russian political strategists in Budapest had been discussed. The government reportedly said it could not confirm their presence in the country.
This week, the Financial Times reported that the Kremlin had commissioned the Moscow-based IT and disinformation firm Agency for Social Design (ASP) to support Orban in his election campaign. The agency is known in Russia for disinformation campaigns and is subject to sanctions by the EU, the US and other governments.
The embassy’s press office and Russia’s ambassador, Yevgeny Stanislavov, personally attacked Magyar — accusing him of spreading falsehoods.
Peter Magyar, leader of Hungarian opposition TISZA party
“We Hungarians are the heirs of the freedom fighters of 1956,” Magyar wrote in a letter to Russia’s ambassador. “No one can threaten or blackmail us.” Magyar said the majority of Hungarians would vote in favor of the country’s future within the European Union. He called on Orban to convene the National Security Council and “inform the people of Hungary about what is going on.”
Putin’s trusted partners
Orban’s government maintains closer ties with Russia than almost any other in Europe. However, the prime minister denies that the Kremlin is trying to influence Hungary’s election campaign. Orban and Putin have held meetings almost every year since he became prime minister in 2010. Hungary is a steadfast consumer of Russian energy, buying more gas from the country now than it did before the Kremlin launched its all-out war on Ukraine in 2022, even as the EU and US impose sanctions.
In 2025, Putin praised Orban as a “leader who represents national interests” and said that Europe would be “reborn” under politicians like the prime minister, In early March, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto traveled to Moscow for a meeting with Putin.
As a gesture of friendship, Putin handed over two Ukrainian prisoners of war of Hungarian descent who had previously expressed pro-Russia sentiments in Kremlin propaganda videos that had been shown on Hungarian state media. Last week, Putin threatened to cut off energy supplies to the Europea Union — but qualified this by saying that Russia supplies reliable partners such as Hungary and Slovakia.
Investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi sees this as a veiled threat and another way in which Putin is helping Orban in the election campaign. “He’s signaling to Hungarians that the gas stations will run dry and the economy will grind to a halt if they don’t vote for his comrade,” Panyi said.
https://www.dw.com/en/russia-working-to-tip-scale-for-orban-in-hungary-election/a-76349043
For a current interactive poll chart please follow this link:
https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/hungary
Hungarians are free to choose.
Hopefully they will realize when the hired Moskali propagandists are lying to them.
I can’t comprehend the mindset of a people voting for a piece of garbage that’s on the side of the shithole that once suppressed them for decades.
And backed by the biggest creep of all…TRUMPKOV
It worked in the U.S. to get trumpkov elected…
Reminder, for those with short memories:
The Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee reaffirmed that Russian operatives engaged in a widespread social media campaign to improve his chances in the race.
A Russian troll farm central to the election campaign supported “Donald Trump at the direction of the Kremlin,” the committee said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/08/business/senate-report-russia-election.html
You should read the $20M Mueller report instead of some legislative branch investigation. Here, I’ll do it for you, lol…
“The investigation did not find that members of the Trump campaign criminally conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
Let me know if you don’t understand it, I’ll try to help you.
I’ve read it, and explained it to you before. More than once.
While Mueller found no evidence of *criminal* collusion, he did find numerous incidents in which the Trump campaign attempted to conceal its contacts with Russian operatives and that Trump himself attempted to interfere with or block the investigation.
I don’t know if you’re intentionally dissembling or are just confused. But what you wrote has nothing to do with what I wrote.
I wrote that ruSSia worked to get trumpkov elected; you addressed “criminal conspiracy by trumpkov campaign”.
From my explanation to you two years ago:
The Mueller investigation uncovered an elaborate Russian campaign to sabotage the 2016 campaign, trumpkov’s repeated efforts to thwart the inquiry and the Trump campaign’s expectation that it would benefit from the Kremlin operations.
The Mueller report found abundant evidence that the campaign sought Russian help, benefited from that help and obstructed the F.B.I. investigation into Russian actions. His investigation resulted in felony convictions for Trump’s former campaign chairman, deputy campaign chairman, personal lawyer, first national security adviser, and longtime political adviser, among others.
Mueller testified July 24, 2019 that Russia committed crimes to help elect Trump, that Trump welcomed the help and that he then lied about it.
In case you need a reminder:
• Trump did collude with Russia.
• Russia did intervene to help Trump win.
• Trump did share classified info with Russian officials.
• Trump did kowtow to Putin, throwing US intel community under the bus at the same time.
• Trump was impeached for withholding aid from Ukraine and thereby helping Russia.
• Contrary to his repeated lies, Trump never lifted a finger to stop Russian aggression in Ukraine which took place every single minute he was in office.
• Mueller found many instances that Trump obstructed justice in the Russia investigation.
• Mueller also concluded as did multiple investigations that Russia intervened to help Trump.
• Barr suppressed Mueller’s true findings.
• Durham’s multiyear investigation did not reverse or contradict any of the above conclusions.
• The Russians did actively support the NRA and multiple GOP political leaders.
• And now, support for Russia is a central goal of the MAGAt wing of the GOP and candidate Trump (and several of those running against him.)
• The Trump GOP is the Putin GOP. It represents a betrayal of American interests and values and represents a profound threat to US national security and that of our most important allies.
You can review the Mueller report here:
https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/download
“You can review the Mueller report”
Pages 14 – 35 are about what the Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency did to help trumpkov’s election chances.
“my explanation to you two years ago”
Here’s a link to that explanation:
Sir Scradge replied to my comment, and you replied to his comment, so I can only assume that you’ve seen this before.
The second sentence of the Mueller report states, “The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and
systematic fashion.”
> You should read
It appears that *you* didn’t read it – the quote you provided is at the end of a paragraph that clearly states ruSSia *did* interfere for the benefit of their preferred candidate, trumpkov, because a trumpkov presidency would benefit ruSSia.
Here’s the complete paragraph, which can be found on page one of the report:
As set forth in detail in this report, the Special Counsel’s investigation established that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election principally through two operations. First, a Russian entity carried out a social media campaign that favored presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaged presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Second, a Russian intelligence service conducted computer-intrusion operations against entities, employees, and volunteers working on the Clinton Campaign and then released stolen documents. The investigation also identified numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump Campaign. Although the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.
“Let me know if you don’t understand it”
I don’t understand where you got that quote, since it doesn’t appear in the Mueller report – it’s a *paraphrase* of the last sentence of the paragraph I just posted.
I just searched for the word “criminally”, and it only appears once in the report (quoting something from 1982). So, it appears that not only didn’t you read the report, you’re posting a misquote of the report from someone else in the MAGAt cult.
(And if you want to claim that you did read it, please explain why you continue arguing that it said something other what it said.)