Hungary's Orbán escalates rhetoric against Ukraine - analysts break it down
Photo: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (facebook com orbanviktor)
The idea of an external threat has always been part of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's project. Now it has reached its culmination in the demonization of Ukraine, and there is an explanation for this, according to the RBC-Ukraine article Orbán turns on Ukraine again: Spy twists and consequences for Kyiv.
"The idea of an external enemy from whom Hungary needs to be protected, a job only Viktor Orbán is capable of doing, has been in the center of governing Fidesz-KDNP's (Orban's political bloc - ed.) political communication for several years. George Soros, migrants, Brussels, or Ukraine: the story is the same," said Zoltán Ranschburg, Senior analyst at the Republikon Institute in Budapest and former President of Amnesty International Hungary, in a comment to RBC-Ukraine.
According to Tibor Dessewffy, Director of the Digital Sociology Research Centre at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, the logic of enemy-searching has always been a part of the Orbán project – and through raising the stakes, it has now culminated in the demonization of Ukraine
“Not to mention the special relationship between Orbán and Putin,” he said.
According to Dessewffy, Orbán's political rhetoric is always aimed at polarization. His confrontational messages are meant to divide society and the electorate in a way that places Orbán in a more favorable political position. That's why the Hungarian leader constantly has to find divisive language and keep escalating the situation.
Orbán also uses the notion of an external threat for more immediate benefits. Since March 2020, under various legal pretexts, Hungary has been continuously under a state of emergency. Initially declared due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was later extended because of Russia's war against Ukraine - even though the war's impact on Hungary isn't always obvious. At the same time, the state of emergency limits the powers of parliament.
Zoltán Ranschburg highlights two more factors influencing the Hungarian Prime Minister's actions. First, the anti-Ukrainian rhetoric fits into the framework of Orbán's long-running conflict with the EU. The Hungarian government constantly challenges the European consensus on Ukraine. Within this logic, Ukraine and the EU end up "on the same side of the barricade" against Hungary. Second, Orbán reacts poorly to criticism and uses his propaganda machine to undermine trust in critics of the government.
Spy scandal
On May 9, a former Ukrainian diplomat was brutally detained in the center of Budapest. He is suspected of alleged espionage.
On the same day, Ukraine decided to expel two Hungarian diplomats in response to Hungary's actions. They left the country within 48 hours. In turn, Hungary expelled two Ukrainian diplomats.
Also that day, Ukraine's Security Service exposed Hungarian military intelligence agents for the first time in the history of Ukraine. They were spying in Zakarpattia.
