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Hungary's Viktor Orban targets Ukraine, as opposition grows

48 17
12.05.2025

The video clip shows investigators, fingerprints, crime scene photos, a drug lab and bullet casings, then the head of a black wolf looking maliciously into the camera. A man speaks in a deep, menacing voice: "Drug and arms trafficking is the specialty of the Ukrainian mafia. Their mercilessness is notorious worldwide. The war has brought more weapons into their hands than ever before."

A tank rolls across the screen, a man puts on a balaclava, then there's a photo of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. "Brussels is playing with fire," the voice continues. "If Ukraine joins the EU, the Ukrainian mafia will come to Hungary unhindered."

This and similar clips are currently all over Hungary's pro-government media platforms. They're part of a campaign recently launched by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban against Ukraine's EU accession process.

All Hungarian citizens have until June 20 to vote on whether they are for or against Ukraine joining the EU. Hungary's government is — not surprisingly — against it.

Orban has been on a pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian course for years. But recently, the sharpness of his tone and the bluntness of his language against Ukraine have been on the rise. His current campaign tops any of his previous smear and defamation campaigns by far — and that includes his controversial national consultations stoking........

© Deutsche Welle