Almost all media in the Hungarian language in Transcarpathia are under the control of Orban and the wider pro-Russian narrative

 Almost all Hungarian-language media in the Ukrainian Zakarpattia are under the control of Viktor Orbán's government and spread certain pro-Russian narratives among the citizens of Ukraine. At the same time, the propaganda of the Hungarian government in Ukraine is somewhat different from the propaganda in other neighboring Hungarian-speaking areas.

Such conclusions were reached by a study prepared by the Hungarian independent analytical center Political Capital, referred to as "European Justice". This is the first study on how the machine of media influence on Hungarians abroad works. It also reveals and explains the structure of the pro-Orban media in Transcarpathia.

The study analyzed the ownership and narratives of Hungarian-language media in four countries neighboring Hungary with a significant Hungarian-speaking minority — Romania, Slovakia, Serbia and Ukraine.

As the study found, in all four countries the absolute majority or all without exception (depending on the country) Hungarian-language publications are controlled by structures favorable to the Orbán government.

"EP" notes that Hungary's influence on Transcarpathia's Hungarian-language media began to appear after the fall of communism. However, after 2010, Orbán's government began systematically allocating funds for this and, as a result, gained almost complete control over Hungarian-language media in neighboring countries in the early 2020s.

In particular, in the Ukrainian Zakarpattia there are only separate media for Hungarians independent of Orban. These are, first of all, media financed by the Ukrainian state — the regional branch of the Public Broadcaster has programs in the Hungarian language. Some publications, such as the independent grant-funded portal Infopost, also occasionally publish individual materials in Hungarian. However, these media have practically no influence on the public opinion of Transcarpathian Hungarians.

The only purely Hungarian media in Transcarpathia that is not completely under the control of official Budapest is the oldest publication of the Transcarpathian Hungarian community, the newspaper Kárpáti Igaz Szó ("Carpathian Truth"), which claims to have a history dating back to 1920. website kiszo.net. It is associated with the party "Democratic Union of Hungarians of Ukraine" (UMDSZ).

However, the rest of the Hungarian media in Transcarpathia are financed by the Hungarian government or belong to structures that favor it, the Study claims.

Probably the most influential Hungarian online media in Transcarpathia are the news portal Karpatalja.ma and the newspaper Kárpátalja. They are managed by the public organization Pro Cultura Subcarpathica. Among its founders is Ildiko Oros, the openly pro-Orbanist head of the Transcarpathian Hungarian Institute named Ferenc Rakoci II, and Laszlo Brenzovič, the president of the Party of Hungarians of Ukraine KMKS (KMKSZ). The SBU is conducting an investigation against Brenzović in Ukraine on charges of separatism, so, writes "EP", he is under the personal protection of Orban in Hungary.

KMKS also controls the only special TV channel for the Hungarians of Transcarpathia – TV21. TV21 and Kárpátalja are the owners of the information portal Karpat.in.ua, founded in 2020.

In addition, the Karpatinfo.net website (and until recently the Karpat.info newspaper, which ceased publication in 2023), whose official ultimate owner is local businessman Istvan Soboslay, receives funding from the Hungarian government through a structure created specifically to expand Orbán's media empire in neighboring countries — Gábor Bethlen Foundation (BGA).

The formally independent Radio Pulzus also receives funding from the Hungarian government.

"Thus, practically the only TV channel in the Hungarian language, a radio station, one of two newspapers and a number of regional news portals are financially dependent on the Orbán government and/or are owned (at least partially) by the Communist Party of Ukraine or its leading member", the EP reports.

In addition, another news portal targeting the Transcarpathian Hungarian community, KárpátHír, is controlled by former members of Hungary's radical right-wing Jobbik party, who left it due to its extremist views.

In addition to media ownership, the study also identified four main narratives of Hungarian propaganda that are most often disseminated by the government, based on the texts and publications of Hungarian-language media in neighboring countries between January 1 and July 15, 2023.

The most common narrative related to the Russian-Ukrainian war. Fake news on this topic makes up 40 percent of the sample. Another 12 percent is a narrative against Western anti-Russian sanctions. Thus, overall, anti-war manipulations that match the narratives of the Russian Federation dominate the Hungarian-language media in all four countries where there are significant Hungarian minorities.

This is followed by the anti-immigration narrative (29 percent) and the “anti-gender”/anti-LGBT narrative (19 percent).

The main messages conveyed to Hungarians abroad are the following:

 

- The West is responsible for the war, violating Russia's "sphere of interest";

- The West arms Ukraine and causes a serious economic crisis, "rejects peace" and imposes sanctions on the Russian Federation;

- in contrast, Russians personify normality, defending so-called "traditional values", while the West "tends to diversify families";

- The West is experiencing an identity crisis and is carrying out a "population exchange" by accepting foreign migrants.

The study proved that Ukraine is an exception in the prevalence of the narrative: there are far fewer publications dedicated to the "anti-gender" narrative, and very few to the anti-migration one.

 

Doubtful reports about the Russian war formed the leading disinformation narrative in Transcarpathia. However, here, unlike the regions of other neighboring countries, there is practically no direct disinformation about Russian aggression, such as fakes about Ukrainian "war crimes".

"The main reason for this is, obviously, the state of war in Ukraine and the intensive fight against Russian disinformation, which prevents or creates risks for the spread of external (Hungarian - "DM") disinformation narratives," the study states.

Therefore, the propaganda discourse about the war in the Transcarpathian media in the Hungarian language is primarily shaped by the statements of Hungarian politicians, especially the Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Sijart and the Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Most of the manipulative war narratives identified during the analysis in Ukraine emphasize the need for an "immediate ceasefire and peace" and that "arms supply will only prolong and worsen the conflict." The third most popular narrative is that the Hungarian government will, as they say, "protect Transcarpathian Hungarians and Hungarian interests from the government in Kiev."

As for Hungary itself, according to Reporters Without Borders, as of 2022, the government and ruling party had de facto control over 80 percent of the media in Hungary. Moreover, this dominance was not established due to censorship or punishment of dissenters, but with the help of market-legal instruments.

The Hungarian government's media monopoly is personally managed by Orbán's chief of staff, Antal Rogan. Under his orders, the government-controlled media empire conducts constant mass campaigns in the Hungarian media, and the narratives initiated by the government are published everywhere in detail and unchanged. "There is a kind of "telethon" that extends to print and online media," writes "EP".

The study explains that the Hungarian Prime Minister, in order to stay in power, consistently creates lines of division and hostility in society in order to present himself as the defender of the majority of Hungarians, especially as the defender against the mythical foreign (Western) "enemy".

"As a result, the Hungarian information space is dominated by pro-Russian disinformation, because Russia also sees the West as an enemy and creates lies about it - and the Hungarian media readily publishes them.

This created a paradoxical situation. Anti-Western and anti-Ukrainian narratives are spreading as if the Russian Federation is investing serious resources in influencing Hungarian public opinion — although this is not the case at all.