to Central Europe

Hungary
Executive Summary
Russian ideological influence in Hungary is mostly dependent on political parties because of anti-
Soviet historical experience and consequent political narratives, which prevented Russian
organizations to be rooted in Hungarian societal life after the transition. In Hungary, the parties
are the main actors of spreading ideological influence for three basic reasons: 1) there are no
grassroots Russian organizations present in Hungary; 2) the Hungarian public is traditionally
reserved towards Russia because of the tense historical relationship; and 3) the right-wing of
politics made an explicit pro-Russian geopolitical turn.
Jobbik and Fidesz have cultivated political/ideological networks that have the possibility to serve
the Kremlin’s interest. The pro-Russian turn of Jobbik and Fidesz follows a conservative drift, but
only Jobbik displays a real traditionalist approach and values, related to or modeled after the
Kremlin. Jobbik as a cultural phenomenon is part of a broader pro-Russian far-right traditionalist
network relying on the Eurasian ideology.
The Hungarian public is hard to influence by the Russian reactionary agenda even with willing
parties. Jobbik and Fidesz have considerable political and cultural networks within their reach,
enabling the Kremlin to exercise direct cultural impact on the Hungarian elite and parts of the civil
society. This way, there is a seemingly paradoxical situation of Russian influence in Hungary: the
Hungarian public is mostly pro-European and pro-American, while the political and cultural elite
are prone to follow the “Eastern Opening” endorsed by the Kremlin. Moscow may have more
impact on far-right organizations around Jobbik and those Christian, pro-family and pro-life NGOs
which fall under Fidesz leadership and their interests are aligned with those of the Kremlin.
Jobbik, a party with very strong political ties to Russia, loyally follows a pro-Kremlin agenda, with
actions such as introducing a Hungarian version of the “Foreign Agents Law” proposal that Russia
has implemented. While there are certain well-established points of cultural-ideological
infiltration to the Hungarian elite, this does not really translate into the Hungarian public
effectively due to the troubled past Hungary shares with the USSR.
The white supremacist, neo-Nazi ideology infused by Eurasianism and translated for the
Hungarian audience via actors around the Arktos publishing group is particularly troubling,
because its main representative, Daniel Friberg resides currently in Budapest, and it increasingly
attempts to spread an ideologically regressive agenda through “metapolitical” actions. 99 Arktos is
the main publisher of the works of Eurasianist ideologist Alexander Dugin who is on very good
terms with Jobbik – having even invited party leader, Gábor Vona to Moscow to give a lecture on
the decline of the Western civilization.
Media
Since the “Hungarian Voice of Russia” has turned into Sputnik International, there is no direct
Hungarian speaking Russian online media available for the Hungarian public.
Pro-Russian narratives, as a form of manifestation of anti-Western and anti-US sentiments, existed
in the Hungarian media even before 2010. In 2008 for example, the main pro-Russian newspaper,
Magyar Nemzet criticized the Atlanticist Fidesz leaders for their pro-American position in the
Georgia-Russia conflict.
99 On this point see: http://magyarhirlap.hu/cikk/52296/Soros_Europa_ellensege
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