The nose of a black bear is deliberately looking into the camcorder while the video clip features investigators, fingerprints, offense scene photos, a medication lab, and bullet casings. A man says,” The Ukrainian mafia’s specialty is medicine and arms prostitution. Their impunity is well-known all over the world. More weapons have been in people’s hands as a result of the combat than ever before.” A pond rolls across the display, a man wears a robe, and there is a picture of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The words continues,” Brussels is playing with fire.” The Ukrainian mob will enter Hungary without a restraint if Ukraine joins the EU, according to the clip, which is already appearing on Hungary’s pro-government press outlets. Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, just launched a strategy against Ukraine’s EU membership. On June 20, all Romanian people can cast their ballots in favor or against of Ukraine joining the EU. Unsurprisingly, Hungary’s state opposes it. Orban has spent decades on both a pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian path. However, the precision of his voice and the frankness of his language toward Ukraine have recently increased. His most recent plan far outweighs any of his past stain and slander efforts, and that includes his controversial national consultations that stoke anti-immigrant views or his racist attacks against billionaire George Soros. These are advertising lies that are as surprising as they are bigoted. The neighboring nation is described as the “centre of drug trafficking and organized crime in Eastern Europe” as a large population of savage individuals who either belong to the gang or are preparing to enslave Hungary with their” low work” and obtain Hungarian retirement. One text from the campaign predicted that Hungary’s public security and the health system would collapse if Ukraine were to become a member of the EU. However, Brussels is portrayed as the one who is at the center of the EU. Why does Orban criticize Ukraine? The campaign’s background is simple to explain, despite how absurd it all sounds. Overall, it boils down to domestic politics in Hungary. In Hungary, the majority of the population is affected by Orban fatigue, which is also promoted by corruption and a disregard for the rule of law by Orban himself, his family, and his inner circle. Opposition leader Peter Magyar is by far the most popular politician in the polls, making his first serious challenge for prime minister in a while. His Hungarian Civic Alliance ( Fidesz ) party is far ahead of Orban’s Respect and Freedom ( Tisza ) party. Elections for parliament are scheduled for spring. As things stand right now, Orban could lose and could face jail time and criminal prosecution for corruption and office abuse. In light of this circumstance, the prime minister and his administration have long been trying to discredit Magyar. Ukraine has recently presented itself as an opportunity. But when Orban made a vague announcement about the current anti-Ukrainian campaign in March, Magyar quickly reacted. On a variety of issues, including Ukraine’s membership of the EU, thousands of Tizsa party volunteers polled opinions in every Hungarian town and municipality. Even for Magyar, the outcome was likely surprising because, overall, 58 % of Hungarians voted in favor of Ukraine’s application to the bloc. Instead of accusing the Tisza party of lying when this information was made public, Orban and his government created the narrative for the current campaign. It distributed propaganda about “war-mongering Brussels,” which allegedly funds Ukraine and “bought” the Tisza party with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to overthrow Hungary’s “national, pro-Hungarian peace government” and establish a “pro-Ukrainian, anti-national war party” in power. In reality, Magyar and his party aren’t all that enthusiastic supporters of Ukraine. How much of an impact will Orban’s campaign have on the outside of his largely clung-together camp of supporters? Orban has hopes to turn the clock back. Beyond this, the prime minister’s anti-Ukrainian stance appeals to the nostalgic revisionist sentiments of his own and other far-right voters in Hungary, who want Transcarpathia, a historical region on the border between Central and Eastern Europe, to become a part of the Hungarian state. Before World War I, parts of this western Ukrainian region were owned by Austria-Hungary. In his speeches, Orban repeatedly invokes the “unity of all Hungarians” and refers to Ukraine as a” no man’s land” or an “area called Ukraine,” purposefully implying a potential division of Ukrainian territory. Orban’s anti-Ukrainian stance can also be interpreted as a declaration of loyalty to US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in terms of foreign policy. Orban’s positive working relationships with Putin are of particular significance because he has historically had a strong economic and financial ties to Russia. Hungary’s efforts to protect Russian oligarchs Orban and his government portray Ukraine as a corrupt mafia state, but they have repeatedly defended Russian oligarchs who have connections to organized crime and are listed on EU sanctions lists for war crimes. For instance, Orban’s administration fought to remove oligarchs from the list of EU sanctions, such as Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman. Experts from the Organization for Economic Cooperation in Europe, for instance, concur that the rule of law is much more established there than in Hungary as far as the alleged mafia state of Ukraine is concerned. It claims that the ongoing war is being successfully fought against corruption. In contrast, there are no obvious steps in this direction in Hungary.
