Sexual abuse of children, a poisoned environment, an alleged sex video with the opposition leader - the election battle in Hungary is full of scandalous revelations that speak of the double standards of the ruling class.
For decades, the election battles in Hungary have been extremely polarized. Whether in opposition or in power – before elections, Viktor Orban invariably leads a long campaign, with which he invariably wants to suggest that the fate of the Hungarian nation depends on him. And that he is the only one who can save the country from the evil and destruction caused by its enemies.
Orban is waging a vicious campaign
This time, before the parliamentary elections on April 12, the negative campaign is even fiercer. Orban, his government and his party “Fidesz“ had no qualms about flooding the whole of Hungary with anti-Ukrainian posters, sending out a “national petition“ against the EU and Ukraine at state expense, as well as flooding social media with artificial intelligence-generated fake videos about the opposition, which aim to spread lies and nonsense. The prime minister and his aides claim that if Orban loses, the country faces all sorts of troubles - war, mobilization on the Ukrainian front, slavery and mass impoverishment due to Brussels' tax regulations.
On this occasion, political scientist Gabor Török speaks of the "decline and disintegration" of political culture - because there is a real possibility that Orban will lose the power he has had since 2010. Fatigue with the autocrat's corrupt and arrogant regime has spread widely, and the opposition party "Tisa" with its leader Peter Magyar has had a clear and stable lead for months. The prime minister and his government are struggling with the consequences of a number of public scandals, for which the rulers themselves are to blame.
Violence against minors
One of the affairs, from which new episodes are constantly emerging, concerns violence and sexual assault against minors in a children's home in Budapest, which was in fact a brutal youth prison and has since been closed. Revealed videos from there show shocking scenes of violence committed by the home's employees. Government representatives have apparently known about the circumstances for a long time, but have done nothing. Moreover, the protection of children - combined with homophobia - is among the main propaganda motives of the Orbán government. The narrative of the ruling party is that they are protecting Hungarian children from Brussels' LGBTI propaganda and the sexual abuse that resulted from it.
And that's not all: Orbán himself, as well as some members of the cabinet, even indirectly blamed the victims themselves from home, making them feel guilty. In this way, it was suggested that civil and human rights can be revoked at will, which caused even greater dissatisfaction among a part of the Hungarian public.
To silence you
In recent days, another revelation has been made, this time concerning problems in a Samsung battery factory near Budapest. According to investigations by the Telex portal, workers there have been exposed to toxic dust from heavy metals for years, even though it was known that they were harmful and poisonous. The dust also seeped into the air, soil and groundwater. The documents show that at times the permissible limits were exceeded by more than 500 times.
The Hungarian government was clearly aware of all this. Even domestic intelligence must have warned the government about the catastrophic circumstances. But under pressure from Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, the battery factory was not closed. When the anti-corruption portal Atlaszo first broke the story in early 2024, the government began to think about how best to silence the portal.
The affair is explosive because the Orbán government has been actively promoting battery production for years and defines it as a pillar of the country's future-oriented economic and technological policy. This is why China and South Korea were the main investors attracted to Hungary. Despite numerous local protests, lawsuits and expert opinions, the government managed to push through its plans. It is now clear that the so-called "defenders of the Hungarian nation" were completely indifferent to what was happening to the health of workers and the environment.
The affair surrounding the possible sex video
Finally, there was talk of a possible sex video of opposition leader Peter Magyar. A few days ago, a mysterious website, supposedly owned by the deputy chairman of “Tisza“ Mark Radnay, posted a picture of a messy bedroom, filmed with a CCTV camera. After several days of speculation, Magyar himself wrote on Facebook that on the night of August 3, 2024, he had consensual sex there with his then-girlfriend. There were also drugs on the table in the apartment, but he had not taken any of them.
Magyar initially accused the girlfriend in question of filming him in this situation on behalf of the Orbán government and “Fidesz“. It was all a “Russian-style campaign“ to divert attention from the government's abuses at the battery factory. In front of the Hungarian media, the ex-girlfriend denied having anything to do with it and suggested to Magyar that they file a complaint together when the video was published.
The rulers are forced to react to scandals every day
With his statement, the leader of Tisza accused the Hungarian rulers of being a clique that is afraid of losing power, which is why it resorts to ugly methods to distract attention from its own scandals.
Political scientist Daniel Mikes said in an interview with DW that Orban's government is under increasing pressure because of such scandals. “Some scandals are not over yet, and new ones are already appearing“, says the expert and adds: “In “Fidesz“ they are already forced to react to such signals every day“.