RUSSIA'S MIXED FORTUNES (PART I)
- Paul Hansbury
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
The recent Hungarian election, which saw Viktor Orban lose power after 16 years, was rightly seen as a blow to Russia. Bulgaria's parliamentary election a week later was kinder to the Kremlin, though hardly compensates for the sway Moscow had over Orban. Another test of Russian influence in central and eastern Europe, meanwhile, will come next year when Slovakians go to the polls. A two-part piece on elections.
A Russia-US condominium in Budapest?
For a long time now, Hungary has proven one of the European Union's most difficult member states. Viktor Orban's relations to Russia have been a major thorn in the side of EU policy, as I have described on the blog before. Hungary has been an obstacle in EU sanctions policy and even more of an obstacle when it comes to aid for Ukraine. It is commonplace to hear people describe the outgoing Hungarian prime minister as being in Russia's pocket.
At any rate, Russia had an interest in Orban remaining in power. Claims that the Kremlin sent 'political technologists' to Budapest ahead of this month's election did not surprise. A Russian agency specialising in disinformation was reportedly deployed to wage a social media campaign against Orban's main rival, Péter Magyar and his Tisza political party. Magyar said that his opponents had tried to blackmail him with a secretly-recorded 'Russian-style' sex tape of him and a former girlfriend.
