Fear is supposed to give Orban victory. The Hungarian campaign is full of blows below the belt

Ashley Davis16/03/2026

0 62 4 minutes read

A person who comes to Budapest without knowing Hungarian might get the impression that Volodymyr Zelensky, not Viktor Orban, is seeking voters' votes. This is how Ukrainian social media comments on the fact that the image of the Ukrainian president dominated the Hungarian election campaign.

Viktor Orban's ruling party, Fidesz, does not present Zelensky in a positive light in this case. On the contrary – Orban's marketers portray the Ukrainian president as a threat. The poster with the slogan “Don't let Zelensky have the last laugh” is very reminiscent of Orban's negative campaign from eight years ago. Back then, the main villain was an American billionaire of Hungarian-Jewish origin, George Soros, and the slogan was the same.

In another poster, generated by artificial intelligence, Zelensky “poses” with his hand outstretched in the company of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the leader of the European People's Party, Manfred Weber. The whole thing is complemented by the slogan: “Message to Brussels: we will not pay!”

Images of Ursula von der Leyen, Volodymyr Zelensky and Manfred Weber on a billboard in BudapestBalint Szentgallay / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP / AFP

Portraits of Zelensky flooded the streets of the capital, they also appeared on billboards aimed at Orban's rival — Peter Magyar and his Tisz party. They show Zelensky demanding weapons and Magyar agreeing to this.

According to experts, the only goal of such a harsh negative campaign is to mobilize voters, because Orban's party is clearly losing in most polls before the upcoming elections. According to one poll from the end of February, the opposition Magyara party has an advantage of over 10 points over Fidesz — 42% would vote for Tisza. respondents, for Fidesz – 31 percent Only one more party, Our Homeland, would get into parliament with 6 percent, which would not be enough for Orban to form a coalition.

– This is not only about Ukraine itself, it is part of the standard strategy of the ruling party, which is to mobilize its voters by instilling fear in society – comments Zsuzsanna Vegh, an analyst at the German Marshall Fund, for the British newspaper “The Guardian”.

“The Guardian” reminds that it is not the first time that the Hungarian political class has used the topic of fear. In 2018, fear of migrants was deliberately stoked, and four years later Orban used baseless claim that the opposition plans to send Hungarian soldiers to fight in Ukraine.

It is worth emphasizing that the idea of sending foreign troops to Ukraine, even after four years of Russian aggression, remains unrealistic. Kyiv still relies solely on the potential of its own armed forces.

Orban is able to influence Hungarian public opinion

Analysts note that the campaign in Hungary is based on two narratives. Orban uses the so-called Ukrainian card, presenting its eastern neighbor as the threat of rising oil prices and the risk of Hungary being drawn into the war; Magyar, in turn, focuses his campaign on social issues and the fight against corruption.

Hungarian national holiday. Peter Magyar, leader of the opposition Tisza party. Budapest, March 15, 2026PAP/EPA/Tibor Illyes

In a month, according to the director of the Policy Solutions institute from Budapest, Andras Biro-Nagy, it will turn out which of the topics appealed to voters more.

— Orban has a huge media empire and virtually unlimited resourceswhich enable him to convey his messages to Hungary – the expert tells the Guardian and adds that Orban's “power in shaping the political agenda” should not be underestimated.

Biro-Nagy reminds that in recent years, the Hungarian Prime Minister was able to change, for example, the majority of Hungarians' support for EU financial support for Ukraine into an attitude of rejection of such aid. — Orban managed to make Volodymyr Zelensky one of the least popular world politicians in Hungary, he sums up.

Zelensky wanted to troll Orban. His compatriots point out his mistake.

Last week, Zelensky himself exposed himself to Orban. Criticizing the Hungarian government, which announced blocking the European Union loan to Ukraine in the amount of EUR 90 billion (approx. PLN 385 billion) until the transit of Russian oil via the Druzhba oil pipeline resumes, he said he believed “that one person in the European Union will not block EUR 90 billion, and Ukrainian soldiers will receive weaponsotherwise I will give his address to the Ukrainian armed forces.” “Let our boys call him and talk to him in their own way,” Zelensky said at a press conference.

The Ukrainian president, known for making ironic comments about other politicians, was criticized for his controversial words not only by Budapest, which immediately considered them a death threat, but also by European leaders and his own country.

“Peter Magyar publicly defended Orban against Zelensky. Ukraine can unite even enemies. It's a pity that we unite not for, but against each other” wrote Ukrainian journalist Serhiy Sydorenko on social media, reacting to Orban's main rival's appeal for Zelensky to withdraw his words.

“Orban is in NATO and the EU. We are not. Orban has thousands of potential hostages because our citizens go to Hungary and Hungarians do not come to us. This is simply a fact from which we cannot escape. Therefore, threatening him and escalating the conflict, helping his ratings, simply makes no sense. It is clear why he behaves this way. The best we can do in this situation is not to be provoked,” commented journalist Denys Kazanski.

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Ukrainian MP from the Servant of the People party, Vadym Halaychuk, told Radio Svoboda that although Zelensky had no intention of threatening, Due to the election campaign, Budapest immediately publicized his words. – They took advantage of it. It would be strange if they didn't take advantage of it, he said.

Relations between Budapest and Kiev have been tense for a long time. In addition to the dispute over the Druzhba pipeline, a few days ago both countries became embroiled in a diplomatic tussle over the stopping two vehicles Ukrainian state bank Oshchadbank. These vehicles transported cash from the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank to Ukraine in the amount of EUR 40 million (approx. PLN 170 million), USD 35 million. (approx. PLN 130 million) and 9 kg of gold.

The Hungarian government says the detention of the shipment is related to a money laundering investigation. Kyiv described these actions as “blackmail” and insists that the funds belong to a state institution. Meanwhile, Oszczadbank announced that it would take legal steps to protect its interests.

Although the Hungarian services have already released seven detained bank employees, the money still remains in Hungary. According to the BBC, they will be detained for at least 60 days until the local tax and customs administration investigates the matter.

Ashley Davis16/03/2026

0 62 4 minutes read