On the anniversary of the 1848 Revolution, the incumbent Prime Minister and his main rival transformed this Sunday, March 15, into a demonstration of electoral strength. Between anti-EU rhetoric and accusations of destabilization linked to the Ukrainian conflict, the campaign for the April 12 legislative elections has reached a breaking point.
While Hungary celebrates its historic uprising against the Habsburgs, national unity has given way to blatant division. Viktor Orbán—seeking a fifth consecutive term but rattled by recent polls—gathered nearly 30,000 supporters in front of Parliament.
His supporters, such as Arnold, a father benefiting from housing subsidies, or Richard Vetö, a hardliner against Brussels, see him as the final bastion of national sovereignty. « We didn’t sign the European Union treaty to be harassed all the time, » the latter insisted, illustrating the growing defiance toward the European Commission.
To counter the rising momentum of his opponent Péter Magyar, the Orbán government has chosen a frontal line of communication: Ukraine. The Prime Minister openly accuses Magyar of being Volodymyr Zelensky’s « puppet. » This strategy relies on massive propaganda tools: National Consultation: The launch of a new questionnaire titled « Don’t let Zelensky have the last word » ; Poster Campaign: Visuals showing the Ukrainian president taunting Hungarians have been deployed nationwide ; Warmongering Rhetoric: Orbán maintains that the opposition is seeking to drag the country into the war against Russia.
The climate grew even heavier last week with a major diplomatic crisis surrounding the Druzhba pipeline. Budapest accuses Kyiv of deliberately blocking the supply of Russian oil under the guise of technical repairs. « It is Russian oil, » Volodymyr Zelensky recently reminded, suggesting a lack of urgency in repairing infrastructure damaged by Russian strikes.
The arrest by Budapest of Ukrainian cash-in-transit couriers carrying €70 million added fuel to the fire. In this electric context, Péter Magyar no longer hesitates to denounce the government’s maneuvers, going as far as to suggest the risk of a « false flag operation » against Hungarian energy installations to justify a crackdown by the regime.
Secondine GOZINGAN
Leave a comment