“He wants to force Hungary into war”

Contrary to the position taken by the majority of EU leaders, Orbán has adopted a two-track strategy: humanitarian support for the Ukrainian population but blocking cooperation with economic aid or military supplies.

Furthermore, the Hungarian ultra-conservative maintains a special diplomatic relationship with the Kremlin, due especially to energy interests and the internal political strategy carried out from Budapest.

While the Baltic countries remain on alert regarding the energy situation and suspect possible sabotage by Russia, Orbán’s defensive position has a diametrically opposite approach.

The Hungarian president not only avoids pointing out Moscow, but also supports a narrative closer to the Russian president Vladimir Putin and redoubles his criticism against Volodímir Zelenskiwhom he blames for the escalation and the economic consequences derived from the conflict.

In this context, Orbán has outlined the strategic line to follow to promote his candidacy that will allow him to achieve re-election in April, when legislative elections are held.

The current prime minister faces a new situation: the rejection of a social majority of his country to his current mandate and the real possibility of losing power sixteen years later.

According to the latest population survey carried out by the independent pollster Median, Fidesz would lose by a wide margin against an opposition concentrated in TISZA, led by Péter Hungarian.

Since 2025, when the trend of polls began to turn against the current head of Government, the dynamic has not changed. With the elections around the corner, the opposition leads him by more than ten points in voting intention.

Faced with this situation, Orbán has outlined a strategy: inflame the confrontation over kyivaccusing Zelensky of operating “together with the EU to bring about change” in Hungary. Furthermore, it presents the opposition leader as “a puppet who defends the interests of Brussels.”

Orbán’s main intention, in an increasingly more similar to an autocracy than to a democratic system, is to gain popularity and relaunch your candidacy with which to be re-elected.

The recurring accusations against Zelensky are part of that strategy. Orbán has hinted at interference in Hungarian politics and has raised the tone in the face of any energy or diplomatic incident.

Al present Ukraine as a hostile actor or irresponsible, the Hungarian Government builds a framework in which the rejection of new aid does not appear as a pro-Russian gesture, but as a defense of national interests.

A similar political operation to the campaign to make the EU visible as an organization contrary to the interests of Hungary, which it has come to accuse of “defending Ukrainian interests” above those of the Member States.

Anti-financial aid campaign

Faced with a complicated outlook for the upcoming elections, Orbán is trying to convince voters that the biggest threat to the country is not economic stagnation – the focus of his main rival’s campaign – but neighboring Ukraine.

For this, it has launched an aggressive media campaignrife with misinformation, whose central message is that Hungarians must refuse to align with the rest of Europe in supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.

According to the Hungarian president, this path could bankrupt the country and send their young men to die at the front.

The clash between the executives of Hungary and Ukraine went a step further this Thursday, when Orbán accused Zelensky of electoral interference.

For the ultranationalist leader, the cut in supply of the Druzhba oil pipeline, for which he blames Ukraine, represents an “energy risk” for the country, which is why he has demanded that Zelensky repair it.

In parallel, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zajárovaaccused Ukraine of putting European energy security at risk by disrupting the flow of crude oil through the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia.

In this regard, a senior Ukrainian security official acknowledged on Monday that the military used drones to hit a key pumping station in Russian territory that serves the same oil transportation system.

From kyiv, however, they maintain that the infrastructure was damaged by Russian attacks at the end of January and has not yet been repaired.

Consequently, as a threat to his Ukrainian counterpart, Orbán has decided to block the economic aid that the European Union was going to provide to the Ukrainian administration, with a loan of 90 billion euros.

According to the ultranationalist leader in a statement published in

Furthermore, with a openly anti-European tone and in the midst of an offensive against Brussels, the Orbán Government has once again resorted to foreign propaganda as an electoral tool, with a new massive poster campaign that floods the streets of Hungary with messages contrary to economic support for Ukraine.

These controversial billboards, financed with public money according to Associated Pressare part of the Fidesz communication mechanism, which has turned public space into a symbolic battlefield against Brussels and against European support for Ukraine.

However, despite Orbán’s position of blaming kyiv, the oil pipeline was damaged in a Russian attack on January 27.

In any case, the Hungarian president maintains a defined roadmap, with the intention of achieving a clash with kyiv, which will allow Orbán to appear in the April elections as the “defender of Hungarian interests”, against an opposition candidate from the European orbit.

The Hungarian prime minister faces his biggest electoral challenge on April 12. An electoral contest in which Orbán’s international allies are “throwing the rest” with the intention of helping the Hungarian president.

The Trump Administration has tried to promote the electoral re-election of the ultra-conservative leader, with measures considered interference, by granting Hungary an extraordinary one-year exemption from US sanctions for using Russian oil and gas.

Furthermore, recently, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubioshowed his support for Orbán, in a joint meeting in Budapest, in which he assured that “his success is our success.”

During the press conference, he declared that the US Administration trusts the electoral result to the bond that both countries will maintain after the elections: “We want Hungary to be successful because it is in our national interest, especially as long as you lead it.”

This close relationship between Budapest and Washington occurs at a time when there has been a slight distancing from the rest of the EU due to Trump’s harmful tariff policy.

In parallel, Orbán represents the country most opposed to continuing to collaborate with Ukraine, in line with the United States.

The ultranationalist leader’s roadmap is clear: move away from the majority positions in the EU, show his suspicion of military and economic support for Ukraine, with the aim of gaining popularity, presenting himself in the elections as a leader who defends Hungarian interests against European elites, interested in achieving a change of government.