The trunk of the car is opened. Inside, a tied and bound young man struggles theatrically.

Standing by the car is a woman. This is Alexandra Szentkiralyi, former government spokeswoman and now the best-known social media propagandist for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Speaking to the camera, she says, "I don't think you'd like this kind of thing to happen to you. Because with the fast EU accession of Ukraine come the organ dealers, the arms dealers, the drug dealers and the human traffickers."

The video, which was posted on Facebook and TikTok, is just 10 seconds long. People in Hungary have been bombarded with content such as this for over two months now — not only on the Internet, but also on pro-government Hungarian television channels.

A steady stream of anti-Ukraine ads was broadcast on the radio, too, and in public spaces, billboards featured grim and sinister-looking images of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

This was not simply just another one of Orban's many hate campaigns; it was the first to target an entire country and declare it a "mafia state."

It was also the first Orban campaign to collectively dehumanize the citizens of a whole country and defame them as dangerous, merciless criminals who are allegedly out to destroy Hungary by trading in people, human organs, drugs and arms, by flooding the market with genetically modified foods, and by taking jobs, income, pensions and healthcare from Hungarian citizens.

The objective of the consultation dubbed Voks 2025 (Vote 2025) was that Hungarians would voice their opposition to Ukraine joining the EU.

The vote ended on Saturday. On........

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