Viktor Orban called Ukraine a "mafia state", fanned a scandal with couriers of a Ukrainian bank and invented a number of fictitious dangers that Ukraine was creating. Thus arose a real crisis that threatens all of Europe.
So far, Viktor Orban's election campaign could be seen as absurd, outrageous or simply ridiculous. In order to distract attention from corruption, cronyism and the poor economic situation in the country, as well as to present themselves as the only "safe choice" before the elections on April 12, the Hungarian Prime Minister and his "Fidesz" party They invent fictitious external threats: about a “mafia Ukraine” that was robbing Hungarians, about “war-loving Brussels” that wanted to increase taxes in Hungary and send Hungarians to the front, and last but not least about millions of illegal migrants who crossed the Hungarian borders because of the war in the Middle East.
Orbán's party is lagging behind in sociological surveys and has failed to rise in the voters' attitudes. The exact opposite is happening: more and more public opinion research institutes see the opposition party “Tisza” with its leader Péter Magyar as the winner of the elections.
That is probably why Orbán cynically inflates the fictions about some external threat to the point of a real political crisis. The latest act in his dramatizations is the accusation against Ukraine, which led an “anti-Hungarian attack”.
It is assumed that Orbán is receiving support from Russian “political technologists”, who are also known to manipulate elections in Russia. According to Hungarian investigative journalist Szabolcs Pani, a team of political technologists is currently in Budapest to assist Orbán in his election campaign. Whether this is true or not, in Orbán's career, which is not lacking in hysterical election campaigns, this is the first time that a Hungarian prime minister has practically taken a neighboring country and an entire continent hostage in order to save his power.
Ukrainian “oil blockade”?
The specific reason is the conflict over the alleged “oil blockade” of Ukraine against Hungary. Relations between the two countries are deteriorating with each passing day, and the European Union (EU) has tried unsuccessfully to mediate.
The conflict began after Russia bombed a node on the Druzhba oil pipeline near the western Ukrainian city of Brody in late January 2026. The pipeline carries Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia. According to Ukrainian data, the bombing caused severe damage to the pipeline and oil can no longer be transported through it.
The Hungarian government accuses Ukraine of deliberately not repairing the pipeline and placing Hungary and Slovakia, which also receive oil through the Druzhba pipeline, under an "oil blockade." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to the accusation that the repair would take longer and that repair teams could not work normally due to the existing military threat. Kiev has yet to respond to Hungary and Slovakia's request to allow their teams to inspect the pipeline.
Before Soros, now Zelensky
Orbán is using the conflict as an excuse to veto a planned €90 billion EU loan package for Ukraine. Late last year, he was ready to support the proposal as long as Hungary did not provide financial guarantees, i.e., would not be jointly and severally liable if Ukraine did not repay the money.
At the same time, the Hungarian prime minister and his party have increasingly spoken out against Ukraine. Hungary is literally littered with posters depicting Zelensky with an outstretched hand for help, along with European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen and the leader of the European People's Party (EPP) faction in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber. The implication here is that the three are taking money from Hungarians’ pockets to finance the war.
A new poster campaign by Orbán’s government shows Zelensky with an evil smile – just as an earlier campaign depicted American billionaire and philanthropist George Soros. The message on the posters now reads: “Let’s not let Zelensky have the last laugh!”
Orbán himself has gone to extremes with statements such as calling Ukraine an “enemy” or “not existing as an independent state.” Ukraine was an “empty eggshell” that would not survive as an independent state even before the war began in 2022. On Thursday (05.03.2026), Orbán said he would “forcefully break the oil blockade” of Ukraine.
Putin releases prisoners for Orban
At the same time, the Hungarian prime minister staged a joint election campaign with Russian President Vladimir Putin. After Orbán first called Putin, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó flew to Moscow on Wednesday, where Putin handed over two Ukrainian prisoners of war, members of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine. They had been captured by Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine.
A few days earlier, Hungarian state television had aired Russian propaganda videos featuring one of the two soldiers. In them, the man claimed that shortly after his capture, the Ukrainian army had abandoned him, and that Russian soldiers had saved him from death, taken care of him, and treated him very kindly. Usually such videos in Russia are the result of threats or torture, and according to international law they should not be broadcast.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjártó took the released soldiers on a government plane from Moscow to Budapest and published a report about the action on Facebook. This is also inadmissible under international law without the consent of the country of origin of the individuals concerned, in this case Ukraine. On Thursday, Orbán visited the two soldiers in a Hungarian hospital and told them that they were now safe and no one could do anything to them. He also published a video of the hospital visit on Facebook.
Zelensky's threat
After all this, Zelensky apparently lost his patience and lost his temper – at a government meeting in Kiev on Thursday he said: “We hope that no one in the European Union will block the 90 billion euro loan. Otherwise, we will give this man's address to our armed forces, to our boys, so that they can call him and talk to him in his language“. Although he did not mention Orban by name, there was no doubt that he was referring to the Hungarian prime minister.
Zelensky hardly said the remark in question seriously. And yet it remains unclear why he did not realize that he was making a mistake. Because for Orban and the Hungarian government, this statement was a real gift. The prime minister immediately stated that he did not perceive it as directed against him personally, but as an attack on the entire Hungarian nation – a narrative that was immediately adopted by pro-government media in Hungary.
A trap for the opposition leader
A new escalation of the conflict occurred after couriers of the Ukrainian bank “Oshadbank“ were arrested in Hungary on Friday night, who were carrying an official money transfer from Austria to Ukraine. According to Szijjártó, they were carrying “money of the Ukrainian mafia“ and in the meantime, a money laundering case was opened against them in Hungary. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha accused Hungary of “state terrorism“ because it “takes hostages“, and Kiev issued a warning against travel to Hungary. On Friday afternoon, Hungary expelled the seven arrested.
As the conflict escalated, Orban and his party apparently laid several traps for opposition leader Péter Magyar. The Tisza leader tried to avoid at least one of them, commenting on Zelensky's threat to Orban by saying that no head of state of another country can threaten a Hungarian.