After criticizing U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance for supporting Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán at a rally this week in Budapest, and insisting that global leaders, including Vance, “refrain from intervening in Hungarian elections,” Orbán’s main election opponent, Péter Magyar, asserted that the Orbán camp is spreading “Russian-style disinformation.”
Addressing Vance, Magyar said, “To the American Vice President here in Hungary, I say respectfully, that if you are already campaigning for Viktor Orbán, do not make Hungarians pay the price.”
The Russia-Orbán connection is not covert. Audio of Orbán telling Russian leader Vladimir Putin that he is “at his service” has been released by Bloomberg and circulated worldwide. (The Hungarian leader has attempted to offer clarity about what he meant.)
Orbán and his team have started spreading Russian-style disinformation. They are sending out messages falsely claiming that our candidates are withdrawing. TISZA is not withdrawing anywhere; we are running with a real chance of winning in every constituency.
— Magyar Péter (Ne féljetek) (@magyarpeterMP) April 10, 2026
According to Magyar, who leads the Tisza party, Orbán and his team “are sending out messages falsely claiming that our candidates are withdrawing. TISZA is not withdrawing anywhere; we are running with a real chance of winning in every constituency.”
Magyar also shared photos depicting how “a massive crowd of TISZA supporters filled the square in Győr.” The election will be held on April 12.
An incredible moment at yesterday’s campaign stop: a massive crowd of TISZA supporters filled the square in Győr.
In 46 hours, Hungary votes.
On April 12, together with the Hungarian people, we make history! pic.twitter.com/DrrpOCIAog— Magyar Péter (Ne féljetek) (@magyarpeterMP) April 10, 2026
The Atlantic‘s Isaac Stanley-Becker reported on Friday: “Most polls have shown Magyar’s party, Tisza, with a comfortable lead over Orbán’s Fidesz Party. But it’s not a given that popular support will translate into a victory at the polls.”
Stanley-Becker added: “Deceptive campaigning is rampant, in the form of billboards that dot Hungary’s highways, deepfakes that dominate the internet, and pro-government messaging that fills newspapers and television channels owned by the prime minister’s allies.”