to Central Europe

national security grounds. 104 These articles contain a slight critique of the Russian legislation
while stressing the Kremlin’s official narrative for the new restrictive legislation:
“Not even Soros denies his role played in the disintegration of the Soviet Union, neither in the socalled
Ukrainian orange revolution and the organization of the Euromaidan.” 105
The newspaper summarizes several speeches made by President Putin in which he linked Russian
geopolitical ambitions to its traditionalist social and political regime. In this interpretation, the
“return of Crimea” was meant to be a civilizational and sacred task by regaining ownership of the
“cradle” of Orthodox Christianity. 106 The foreign policy editor, Gábor Stier painted a very flattering
picture of Putin when citing the President’s 2015 Valdai speech in October after praising the
Russian intervention in Syria for “ending the Syrian bloodbath and the disintegration of the
country” in the fight against ISIS. 107
Compared to the MNO media world, the Echo-Group supports the pro-Kremlin agenda explicitly.
Journalists featured at the daily Magyar Hírlap and Echo TV voice the most extreme anti-West and
pro-Moscow political conspiracy theories, in addition to their support for far-right ideology.
Magyar Hírlap often praises President Putin for “preventing a genocide” in Crimea by rescuing the
Russian naval base in Sevastopol from the NATO-backed Fascist “junta” in Kiev. Russia is
displayed as the defender of “human civilization” after WWII. 108 However, when it comes to the
traditionalist values, they also fail to present a broader pro-Russian cultural agenda, likely due to
the Echo-Group’s clear-cut (geo)political pro-Russian stance which renders pro-Russian cultural
indoctrination unnecessary – in the light of a strong Hungarian far-right cultural-ideological
explanation of the world on a daily basis.
Despite of the rather sporadic appearance of reactionary values in the Hungarian mainstream
media, as compared to the dominance of pro-Russian geopolitical agenda, some leading
journalists are known for their affiliations with the Kremlin – such as Gábor Stier, foreign policy
editor of Magyar Nemzet, who regularly partakes in the Valdai meetings and openly endorses
President Putin. Adrienn Szaniszló, daughter of the former leading “investigative journalist” and
conspiracy theorist, Ferenc Szaniszló at Echo TV, participated as an observer in the elections of
the separatist territories in Eastern Ukraine.
Far-right media
The far-right does not shy away from the explicit promotion of traditionalism and ultraconservatism.
Dugin and his Eurasianist ideology are well represented in the far-right media of
Jobbik. The party’s main medium, Alfahír (alfahir.hu) addresses all important issues on the
Kremlin’s agenda: Eurasianism, Russian human rights scandals, anti-gay legislation, migration,
feminism, and the protection of the traditional family. Moreover, Alfahír conducted an interview
with Alexander Dugin about the Eurasian Economic Union and his Eurasianist ideology. 109 The
interview has caused a debate in Hungarian far-right circles, since it declared the end of nation
states, instead proposing the establishment of Western or European and Eurasian empires.
104 See: http://mno.hu/kulfold/betilthatjak-a-nem-kivanatos-kulfoldi-szervezeteket-oroszorszagban-1287020,
http://mno.hu/kulfold/nemkivanatos-lesz-a-soros-alapitvany-oroszorszagban-1289416
105 See: http://mno.hu/kulfold/nemkivanatos-lesz-a-soros-alapitvany-oroszorszagban-1289416
106 Vlagyimir Putyin üzent Európának és Amerikának. http://mno.hu/kulfold/vlagyimir-putyin-uzent-europanak-esamerikanak-1261692
107 See: http://tablet.mno.hu/kulfold/putyin-visszavag-libiaert-1309684,
http://mno.hu/magyar_nemzet_kulfold/moszkva-szinre-lep-1303099
108 See the following articles: http://magyarhirlap.hu/cikk/10536/Putyin_esete_Amerikaval,
http://magyarhirlap.hu/cikk/10536/Putyin_esete_Amerikaval
109 See: http://alfahir.hu/birodalom_epul_a_nyugattal_szemben
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