Russia is trying to gain influence in many places, but nowhere is it as successful as in Hungary
An average Russian does not think much about Hungary, but in propaganda the image of us depends on the strategic goals. The positive image of the Hungarians can be traced back to a serious lack of knowledge.
The growing relationship between Viktor Orbán and Vladimir Putin has been a constant topic in Hungary for many years, but at the Political Capital online conference he tried to present the question from a different direction: the color of Hungary in Russian propaganda.
The conversation was moderated by Péter Krekó, and it turned out mainly what Oleg Navalny told the Immediate just this week: there is no particularly strong image of Hungary in the Russian public consciousness, but even in the propaganda press serving the goals of the state. a picture of us is the current strategy of the Russian leadership.
It starts from the top with us
First, Patrik Szicherle, an analyst at Political Capital, presented the results of his research: After Serbia, Hungary and Montenegro have become the most vulnerable countries to Russian propaganda, so we are the first in the entire EU. Interestingly, the Hungarian public is somewhat resistant to Russian influence than much of the region, but as long as Russian pseudonyms tend to start from the pre-public stage in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the elite is beginning to spread them in Hungary.
In this connection, the participants of the conference had a much-discussed debate, namely whether Hungary has a place in the EU. Although only marginal forces openly reject membership, the government is campaigning manipulatively against the Union’s decisions.
The vulnerability of the country is further increased by the fact that Hungarian parties are strongly divided in foreign policy and do not have common goals.
Russia’s handling of information is divisive: pro-government media tend to paint a positive image of Russia, Russian or Chinese officials are often interviewed without critical questions, independent media are generally critical, but there is also a kind of gray area: the Kremlin to shout his position for example, in the case of Alexei Navalny.
Photo: Political Capital
The case of Hungary is an example of chaos
But what is the image of us in the Russian media? The massively pro-Kremlin and multilingual news outlets, which are centrally regulated, tend to paint a positive image of us, a member of NATO and the EU. Although Hungary’s production can often be used as an example of the fragmentation of the Union, showing, for example, that Budapest is in some respects closer to Moscow than Brussels. Hungary is a wall-breaking ram many times, but it is possible to broadcast a negative image of us:
On the fiftieth anniversary of 1956, the Hungarian uprising was described as the first color revolution.
(Color revolutions in the new millennium are those that began in the post-Soviet region, with mass protests and US support, such as the “Orange Revolution” in Georgia in 2003 or Kiev in 2004.)
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó is happy to tell the Russian state media that the West is spreading fake news.
We have an important role in the information war with Ukraine: Hungarian pseudo-experts have appeared in the Kremlin’s propaganda, one of whom is a non-existent expert who encourages Viktor Orbán’s own advisers to support the recovery of Transcarpathia. These statements also seeped into the Ukrainian press, giving ammunition to the growing Ukrainian far right.
András Rácz, a senior researcher at the German Foreign Policy Association (DGAP), pointed out that there is a lot more talk about the Russians in the Hungarian press than there is about the Hungarians, but this is also understandable due to the position of the two countries. There is a general narrative about the European Union in the Russian media, these are known things with migrants, fragmentation, chaos. It fits into this logic that Hungary is different.
“This underpins the general narrative of how unified the EU is,” Rácz said.
The picture changes if there is another strategic goal: at the time of the invasion of Ukraine, offensive reports also appeared about Hungary; No one noticed on the Russian side, which was proven to be linked to the secret service, but Russian foreign affairs reacted immediately, and Hungarian foreign affairs had to start fighting.
It is important that we are still seen as members of the EU and NATO, so we will not find very outstanding opinions.
Russia expert Dorka Takácsy also confirmed that Hungarians have a great career in the press to talk outside the EU. “If even the Hungarians say that, and even if they think it’s bad, then everything is really bad,” he said, adding that it would also require ammunition, and it would be foolish for the Kremlin not to knock down the balls given by Hungarian politicians. up.
The policy is different from the country
Interestingly, only 2-3 percent of Russians considered Hungary to be a truly friendly country in Russia, according to a Levada survey, which also shows that we don’t get much attention, but it also says a lot that Russian internet searches this year are mainly with the Hungarian national football team. were related.
Photo: AFP / Yuri Kochetkov
Rácz added that it is determined by the Russian notorious headlines: when he renamed Moscow Square Széll Kálmán Square in Budapest, he was asked in Russia what was wrong with the original.
It is important that the perception of the Hungarian government in Russia is not the same as that of Hungary: when it comes to politics, Viktor Orbán comes up and it turns out what good friends he has with Vladimir Putin, but
The Soviet period, the service of the elders in Hungary, Ferenc Puskás, the Globus canned food and the Tokaj wines are more common in Hungary. As we do not have anti-Russian atrocities, Rácz said that “the lack of negativity is also positive.”
On the Hungarian side, the number of those who already consider Russia as a strategic partner started to increase compared to the previous period (30 percent). A sign of this is the country’s greater vulnerability to propaganda, in connection with which Takácsy emphasized how worrying it is that there is no sense of threat in this regard.
Rácz adds that he sees only 15 percent of the United States as a strategic partner.
It is also worth emphasizing that Russia cannot do about the vulnerability due to Hungarian corruption, they only use it in a completely logical way.
According to Rácz, the positive attitude of the Hungarian respondents towards the Russians reveals a very serious lack of knowledge about the situation in the region, not least because they are not bothered by the fact that there has been a war in Ukraine for the seventh year.
“This lack of knowledge is an essential part of the vulnerability, and it wouldn’t hurt to work on it.”
According to Rácz, the general turn in Russian relations should be sought in November 2009: in November of this year, Viktor Orbán was invited to support Putin by the United Russia party, where there was an Orbán-Putin meeting face to face. After the meeting in St. Petersburg, Orbán also made a statement on the enlargement of Paks, saying he “does not believe that this can be done without the Russians.”
Of course, we will never know the exact content of the discussion, but it shows a lot about the situation that the Russians did not invite the then Prime Minister, Gordon Bajnai, as they were planning for the long term.
The influence in Hungary, on the other hand, is quite different from that in the Baltics or Serbia: there are no common minorities, no traditional Russian friendship or pan-Slavic tradition, no energy is invested in it. Russian influence is concentrated in two areas: gaining a position in strategic sectors, which guarantees influence for a long time (nuclear, gas, etc.), and seeking to gain positions in the elite.
According to Dorka Takácsy, transparency would be a good defense to prevent this, Rácz also agreed that the problem is not that the Paks nuclear power plant is bad, for example, but that we do not know anything about it. “If there was political will for it, a surprisingly fast change could be achieved against this influence within the elite,” said András Rácz.
Krekó emphasized that the lack of transparency is also shown by the fact that one should only believe in government announcement that “good price” take the gas from Gazprom, which is a Hungarian specialty. In many other countries, it is completely transparent how much money is paid to Russia for gas imports.
In that conversation, all three participants agreed that Hungary is unique:
elsewhere, the Russians are trying to gain influence with similar methods, but nowhere are they so successful.
The question is how much a possible change of government will change the situation: Takácsy said it is worth seeing the tendency that the current opposition is always always anti-Russian, but now it seems that the united opposition is not pro-Russian and is aware of the Russian side. .
FEATURED IMAGE: MTI / Prime Minister’s Press Office / Benko Vivien Cher