Orbán Declares EU a Greater Threat Than Russia in Combative Speech Eight Weeks Before Hungarian Elections

Eight weeks before what may be the most consequential Hungarian election in a generation, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán used his annual state-of-the-nation speech on Saturday to recast the European Union — not Russia — as the existential threat facing his country Hungary’s Orban says EU bigger threat than Russia before April electionsaljazeera.com·SecondaryHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says his country should fear the European Union more than Russia while promising to clear away the EU’s “oppressive machinery” before what looks will be heated parliamentary elections. Delivering his annual state-of-the-nation speech on Saturday, Orban pledged to push out “the foreign influence that limits our sovereignty together with its agents” as the opposition Tisza Party maintains an 8 to 12 percentage point lead over Orban’s ruling Fidesz party....

"Fear-mongering about Putin is primitive and unserious. Brussels, however, is a palpable reality and a source of imminent danger," Orbán told a rally of supporters in Budapest, drawing an explicit parallel between the EU and the Soviet regime that dominated Hungary for decades during the Cold War Hungary’s Orban says EU bigger threat than Russia before April electionsaljazeera.com·SecondaryHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says his country should fear the European Union more than Russia while promising to clear away the EU’s “oppressive machinery” before what looks will be heated parliamentary elections. Delivering his annual state-of-the-nation speech on Saturday, Orban pledged to push out “the foreign influence that limits our sovereignty together with its agents” as the opposition Tisza Party maintains an 8 to 12 percentage point lead over Orban’s ruling Fidesz party.... The remarks represent the sharpest anti-EU rhetoric from a sitting EU member state leader in recent memory and set the tone for what promises to be a bruising campaign season.

The speech comes at a moment of acute political vulnerability for Orbán. His ruling Fidesz party trails Peter Magyar's opposition Tisza Party by 8 to 12 percentage points in most polls ahead of the April 12 elections . Magyar, a former Fidesz insider who broke with the party in February 2024 over a presidential pardon scandal involving the cover-up of child sex abuse cases, has transformed the previously obscure Tisza into Hungary's main opposition force in barely two years Orban says EU bigger threat to Hungary than Russiadw.com·SecondaryPrime Minister Viktor Orban said Saturday that the European Union (EU) poses a greater threat to Hungary than Russia, accusing Brussels of seeking to undermine his government by supporting the opposition. Orban, who has been prime minister since 2010, is facing his biggest domestic challenge in years, as his nationalist Fidesz party has been behind the conservative Tisza party in most polls leading up to April elections..

Orbán's response has been to frame the election as an existential choice. In a Facebook post earlier this week, he warned that a Tisza victory would "drag the country into the conflict raging next door in Ukraine" Hungary’s Orban says EU bigger threat than Russia before April electionsaljazeera.com·SecondaryHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says his country should fear the European Union more than Russia while promising to clear away the EU’s “oppressive machinery” before what looks will be heated parliamentary elections. Delivering his annual state-of-the-nation speech on Saturday, Orban pledged to push out “the foreign influence that limits our sovereignty together with its agents” as the opposition Tisza Party maintains an 8 to 12 percentage point lead over Orban’s ruling Fidesz party.... His party has plastered billboards across Hungary depicting Magyar saying "yes" to a demand for "Money for Ukraine!" from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen Hungary’s Orban says EU bigger threat than Russia before April electionsaljazeera.com·SecondaryHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says his country should fear the European Union more than Russia while promising to clear away the EU’s “oppressive machinery” before what looks will be heated parliamentary elections. Delivering his annual state-of-the-nation speech on Saturday, Orban pledged to push out “the foreign influence that limits our sovereignty together with its agents” as the opposition Tisza Party maintains an 8 to 12 percentage point lead over Orban’s ruling Fidesz party.... The strategy mirrors the playbook Orbán has used successfully for over a decade: casting domestic opponents as puppets of foreign powers.

But this time, the prime minister went further. He accused Manfred Weber, head of the conservative European People's Party faction in the European Parliament, and von der Leyen of personally orchestrating Magyar's political rise Orban says EU bigger threat to Hungary than Russiadw.com·SecondaryPrime Minister Viktor Orban said Saturday that the European Union (EU) poses a greater threat to Hungary than Russia, accusing Brussels of seeking to undermine his government by supporting the opposition. Orban, who has been prime minister since 2010, is facing his biggest domestic challenge in years, as his nationalist Fidesz party has been behind the conservative Tisza party in most polls leading up to April elections.. "It is crystal clear that in Hungary the oil business, the banking world and the Brussels elite are preparing to form a government," Orbán claimed. "They need someone in Hungary who will never say no to Brussels' demands" Orban says EU bigger threat to Hungary than Russiadw.com·SecondaryPrime Minister Viktor Orban said Saturday that the European Union (EU) poses a greater threat to Hungary than Russia, accusing Brussels of seeking to undermine his government by supporting the opposition. Orban, who has been prime minister since 2010, is facing his biggest domestic challenge in years, as his nationalist Fidesz party has been behind the conservative Tisza party in most polls leading up to April elections..

The conspiratorial framing extends to Hungarian civil society. Orbán pledged to "clean up" what he described as "pseudo-civil organisations, bought journalists, judges, politicians" after the April vote . He characterized his 16-year project of building what he calls an "illiberal state" as only "half-done," signaling that a fourth consecutive term would bring intensified crackdowns on independent institutions Hungary’s Orban says EU bigger threat than Russia before April electionsaljazeera.com·SecondaryHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says his country should fear the European Union more than Russia while promising to clear away the EU’s “oppressive machinery” before what looks will be heated parliamentary elections. Delivering his annual state-of-the-nation speech on Saturday, Orban pledged to push out “the foreign influence that limits our sovereignty together with its agents” as the opposition Tisza Party maintains an 8 to 12 percentage point lead over Orban’s ruling Fidesz party....

Critics say the rhetoric reveals a leader increasingly cornered by democratic competition. The Tisza Party has pledged to end what it describes as Hungary's "seesaw" foreign policy and align Budapest firmly with the West Orban says EU bigger threat to Hungary than Russiadw.com·SecondaryPrime Minister Viktor Orban said Saturday that the European Union (EU) poses a greater threat to Hungary than Russia, accusing Brussels of seeking to undermine his government by supporting the opposition. Orban, who has been prime minister since 2010, is facing his biggest domestic challenge in years, as his nationalist Fidesz party has been behind the conservative Tisza party in most polls leading up to April elections.. Magyar has positioned himself as a pro-European alternative who would restore judicial independence and press freedom — issues that have placed Hungary in repeated conflict with EU institutions over rule-of-law concerns.

The geopolitical context adds another layer of significance. Orbán delivered the speech as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio prepares to visit Budapest on Sunday, flying in from the Munich Security Conference with a stopover in Slovakia for talks with nationalist Prime Minister Robert Fico Hungary’s Orban says EU bigger threat than Russia before April electionsaljazeera.com·SecondaryHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says his country should fear the European Union more than Russia while promising to clear away the EU’s “oppressive machinery” before what looks will be heated parliamentary elections. Delivering his annual state-of-the-nation speech on Saturday, Orban pledged to push out “the foreign influence that limits our sovereignty together with its agents” as the opposition Tisza Party maintains an 8 to 12 percentage point lead over Orban’s ruling Fidesz party.... The visit comes just a day after Donald Trump posted a fresh endorsement of Orbán on Truth Social, calling him "a truly strong and powerful leader with a proven track record of delivering phenomenal results" Hungary’s Orban says EU bigger threat than Russia before April electionsaljazeera.com·SecondaryHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says his country should fear the European Union more than Russia while promising to clear away the EU’s “oppressive machinery” before what looks will be heated parliamentary elections. Delivering his annual state-of-the-nation speech on Saturday, Orban pledged to push out “the foreign influence that limits our sovereignty together with its agents” as the opposition Tisza Party maintains an 8 to 12 percentage point lead over Orban’s ruling Fidesz party....

Orbán openly acknowledged the Trump factor in his speech. "Trump rebelled against the liberals' global-scale business, media and political network, thereby improving our chances as well," he said, framing the US president's agenda as ideological cover for his own domestic campaign . The alignment is not merely rhetorical: in November 2025, Washington granted Hungary a one-year exemption from secondary sanctions on Russian energy, a significant economic lifeline for a government that has maintained warm relations with Moscow throughout Russia's war in Ukraine Orban says EU bigger threat to Hungary than Russiadw.com·SecondaryPrime Minister Viktor Orban said Saturday that the European Union (EU) poses a greater threat to Hungary than Russia, accusing Brussels of seeking to undermine his government by supporting the opposition. Orban, who has been prime minister since 2010, is facing his biggest domestic challenge in years, as his nationalist Fidesz party has been behind the conservative Tisza party in most polls leading up to April elections..

For the European Union, the speech presents a familiar but intensifying dilemma. Orbán has spent years blocking or delaying joint EU positions on Ukraine aid, migration policy, and rule-of-law enforcement. A fourth term would likely mean continued obstruction at a moment when European leaders — including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who just hours earlier at the Munich Security Conference called for deeper European defence integration — are pushing for greater continental unity.

Yet the polls suggest Hungarian voters may be tiring of the confrontation. If the Tisza Party's lead holds through April, Hungary could see its most significant political realignment since Orbán's return to power in 2010 — a prospect that has clearly rattled a prime minister accustomed to commanding the political landscape unchallenged.