A country that "never existed" or a "problem called Ukraine": Hungary's government and affiliated media have attacked their war-torn neighbour with increased pace since Prime Minister Viktor Orban's "dear friend" Donald Trump took power.

Orban and his allies have long used the same "hostile narratives" against the West and Ukraine as Russia, Dorka Takacsy, a research fellow at the Budapest-based Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy (CEID) think tank told AFP.

But the government -- a close EU ally of Washington under Trump and the Kremlin -- is more emboldened since the election of the US Republican.

"It seems Hungarian leadership saw Trump's victory as an opportunity to do whatever they want with Ukraine," Takacsy said, noting the number of anti-Kyiv messages from Orban and his allies has increased lately.

Trump last month called Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president since 2019, a "dictator" for not holding elections, even though martial law precludes any vote because of the war.

Amid a rush of online disinformation targeting Ukraine, here are some key Hungarian statements:

Orban regularly breaks EU unity on Ukraine, to which he has refused to send arms since Russia........

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