Why Orbán’s Anti-Ukrainian Propaganda Works

Russian and Hungarian rhetoric share the same motifs and strategies

16 March 2023

Dorka Takacsy

Marcin Król Fellow

Across Europe, pro-Ukrainian support and messages have been steadfast in these many months following the large-scale invasion…except in the propaganda of Viktor Orbán’s Hungary.

When Russia a year ago started an overt, grand-scale and unprovoked invasion against Ukraine, popular opinion stood and sympathised with the victims immediately, and governmental responses followed this line. Pro-Russian voices might have been present in many countries, but they did not prevail or determine the mainstream narrative in EU countries, with one notable exception: propaganda-filled Hungary.

Editor’s Pick:  Unrest In the EU Neighbourhood 

While civil society organised itself immediately to help the refugees, the government’s rhetoric did not move from its pro-Russian stance. The invasion found Hungary at the finish of the parliamentary elections campaign and quickly became its leading theme.

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Dorka Takacsy

Marcin Król Fellow

Marcin Król Fellow 2022/2023 at Visegrad Insight and a researcher passionate about politics in Russia and the CEE region. She pursues her PhD studies at the Corvinus University of Budapest, contemplating the broader topic of Russian domestic disinformation about the West. She is currently a Research Fellow at the Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy (CEID), focusing on disinformation.

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