A newly obtained media plan reveals that Viktor Orbán’s government paid more than HUF 313 million for a campaign placing the Hungarian prime minister’s seven-point criticism of the European Union in newspapers across Europe in 2021.
Hungarian taxpayers paid more than HUF 313 million for a government advertising campaign that promoted then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s criticism of the European Union in foreign newspapers, newly obtained documents reveal.
The campaign, launched in the summer of 2021, was considerably broader than previously known. While two full-page advertisements – one in a Danish newspaper and another in Spain – attracted attention at the time, documents obtained by investigative outlet Átlátszó show that Orbán’s message was ultimately published in 18 foreign newspapers.
The campaign came at a particularly tense moment in Hungary’s relationship with the EU, following a series of disputes over the Hungarian government’s policies and its increasingly confrontational stance towards Brussels.
A HUF 313 million campaign against the “European empire”
The advertisement, titled On the Future of the European Union – Hungary’s Proposals, presented seven points under Orbán’s signature. Its opening message declared: “We say no to a European empire!”
According to the media plans obtained from the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office, the government paid a total of HUF 313 million gross for the campaign. The net advertising cost was HUF 213.4 million. On top of this came a 15 per cent agency fee of HUF 32 million paid to New Land Media, the company responsible for organising the campaign, followed by VAT.
The documents indicate that the government initially targeted even more publications. In total, 25 newspapers appear to have been approached, although seven ultimately did not publish the advertisement. One of them, Bulgaria’s 24 Chasa, reportedly could not run it because of technical reasons. The campaign therefore went far beyond the two advertisements that became publicly known at the time.
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Why was Orbán’s message published in 2021?
The timing was important. In March 2021, Fidesz left the European People’s Party group in the European Parliament after changes to the group’s rules opened the way for an entire delegation to be expelled.
Three months later, Hungary’s parliament adopted the government’s so-called child protection law, which drew widespread criticism over its restrictions concerning LGBTQ-related content. The legislation was promulgated on 23 June.
Just days later, EU leaders gathered for a summit in Brussels, where the Hungarian government faced strong criticism over the law. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had already taken an exceptionally hard line before the summit, saying that, in his view, Hungary had no place in the EU.
At the summit itself, leaders from 17 member states signed a declaration condemning the Hungarian legislation as a “blatant form of discrimination”.
The first advertisements featuring Orbán’s response appeared in foreign newspapers the following day, on 26 June. Over the next two weeks, readers of a further 16 publications encountered the Hungarian prime minister’s seven-point message.
What did Orbán’s seven points say?
The advertisement presented a very Eurosceptic vision of the European Union. Orbán argued that Brussels was building a “superstate” without democratic authorisation and called for rejecting what he described as a European empire.
He also said European integration should be regarded as a means rather than an end in itself, arguing against the principle of an “ever closer union” being included in the EU treaties.
Another point called for decisions to be made by elected leaders rather than international NGOs, while accusing the EU of outsourcing the rule of law. The Hungarian prime minister also linked the future of European integration to economic success, arguing that the EU would have no future if member states could not become more successful together than separately.
Other points focused on migration and pandemics, strengthening national parliaments and restoring public confidence in European democracy. The final proposal was particularly notable: Serbia should be admitted to the European Union.
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Several major European newspapers refused the advertisement
Not every newspaper approached by the Hungarian government agreed to publish the campaign. The editor-in-chief of The Times of Malta said the newspaper did not want to accept money from a government that restricted press freedom, human rights and the rule of law. Publishing the advertisement, he argued, could have turned the newspaper into a tool of a policy running counter to press freedom.
Belgium’s De Standaard similarly rejected the advertisement and instead published a full-page rainbow-coloured response. La Libre Belgique reportedly argued that Orbán’s advertisement did not reflect the truth, while De Morgen rejected it because the message was incompatible with the values represented by the newspaper.
Sweden’s Dagens Nyheter offered Orbán an interview instead, but received no response. Meanwhile, The Irish Times argued that the Hungarian government was attempting to use money to bypass the editorial process and place its own message directly before readers.
A campaign designed to reach beyond Orbán’s allies
The newspapers that did publish the advertisements were not exclusively sympathetic to the Hungarian government. According to the documents, roughly half of the publications that carried the campaign were critical of Orbán’s government to some degree, while the other half were more favourable towards it.
The selection also suggests that the government was seeking a broad international audience rather than simply targeting publications in countries considered political allies. The campaign included conservative and right-wing newspapers, but also mainstream titles such as France’s Le Figaro and Sweden’s Dagens Industri.
And how much of our money did the E.Yuck squander on its propaganda?
How much of our money is the E.Yuck funneling to “nonprofits,” “charities,” and “N.G.O.s” that are facilitating the invasion and destruction of Europe by third-world illegal alien hordes?
How much of our money is the E.Yuck lavishing on promotion of causes such as LGB4KHDTVQWERTY135%#!, including outside Europe (though not ever in a Moslem country, of course!)?
How much of our money is the E.Yuck wasting on boundless corruption, so much so that the entire monstrosity has failed every single audit for the past 24 years?
Go on then, tell us!
Orban’s opening message of “We say no to a European empire” is complete hysteria. Pushing this kind of hysteria fit completely into Moscow’s propaganda world. It’s the same as pushing hysteria about NATO. It’s all designed to make Europe weak to make it easier for Russian expansionism. No normal European ever looks at the EU as an empire. Fidesz was working to warp people’s minds.
Hungary has decided differently, and that’s a good thing, because populists are failures, as Florian Harms, editor-in-chief of T-Online, writes! Populists are analyzed here using Trump as an example, but the descriptions apply more or less to all populists. One thing can already be said: Fidesz cannot act any differently in the future. Hungary should never forget that.
Excerpt translated into English:
Populists have a simple method: They shout at reality until it seems meek for a moment. Donald Trump masters this tactic like almost no other: the big mouth as a substitute for government, the threat as a diplomatic masquerade, the tweet as a battering ram. When he moved into the White House for the second time in January 2025, he puffed out his cheeks: “The golden age of America begins right now,” he proclaimed in his inaugural address; the USA would finally be respected, admired, feared, and envied again. It was the typical Trump sound: half messianic sermon, half real estate prospectus.
Since then, the US president has announced, retracted, threatened, renamed, increased, and punished countless things. He treated friend and foe the same: first the slap, then the reckoning. Those who ducked did so hoping the next blow would land on their neighbor. That’s the logic of the court under an unpredictable prince: one bows not out of respect, but out of fear of the ruler’s whim.
But this method ultimately fails when the prince talks faster than he can think. Therefore, in late summer 2026, the mighty Max stumbles across the world stage only as a caricature: a president who shouts like a half-assed man because he possesses hardly any real strength left. A general who wanted to make history with gunboats and is now haunted by the consequences of his own stupidity.
Power is also measured by whether threats work. In the Persian Gulf, however, one of Trump’s threats after another falls on deaf ears. The situation in the Strait of Hormuz demonstrates how quickly imperial bravado can turn into a logistical nightmare. Ship blockades, strikes and counterattacks, rising oil prices, and growing insecurity underscore a simple truth that is never mentioned in the bluntness of Trumpism: Whoever ignites a conflict does not automatically control the blaze. Instead, they are often consumed by it.
The allies see this too. For decades, the Gulf states have relied on the American promise of protection. But when the protector himself becomes the source of the threat, he loses his value. And those who recognize that the hegemon is wavering begin to look around: for other allies, other forms of security, other guarantees. That is why the Arab states are now turning to China and Europe, and the US is losing its dominant role in the world’s most resource-rich region.
On its own continent, the situation is no better for the US. Neighboring Canada has had enough of Washington’s tariff charade. The latest American punitive tariffs were promptly met with a swift response from the government of the assertive Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday, who imposed hefty retaliatory tariffs. The conflict will undoubtedly damage the nation of 40 million, but it’s worth it to the Canadians to stand up to their aggressive neighbor, as our correspondent Bastian Brauns reports. Eventually, even the Trump supporters will realize the consequences of their actions: those who conduct trade policy like a bar fight shouldn’t be surprised when their own people end up suffering.
Especially since the US debt is spiraling out of control. The land of unlimited credit has just broken a new record: $40 trillion in national debt is now piling up on the books – a number with 13 zeros. Trump’s chaotic policies have increased the sum by almost $3 trillion in the past twelve months alone. Investors are reacting nervously and demanding higher risk premiums. The spectre of an American default, which would plunge the global economy into the abyss, haunts the financial sector. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tries to counteract this with frantic maneuvers, buying billions of dollars’ worth of US Treasury bonds – but the effect fizzles out. At the same time, the cost of living rises, and Americans have to pay ever more for food and gasoline. Instead of a golden age, they are sliding straight toward a sovereign debt crisis.
This is not merely the story of an overwhelmed president. It is a lesson in populism. Populists sell complexity as deception and simplicity as salvation. They claim there is always a culprit, a limit, a tariff, an enemy, and a signature after which everything will be alright. They turn politics into a magic trick: put on your hat, pull out a rabbit, applause! Except that at some point, there’s no rabbit left in the hat, but rather the bill.
Britain has already witnessed this tragedy. Brexit was sold by its cheerleaders as liberation, as national self-healing through leaving the EU. Ten years later, it is proving to be a historic mistake. Gross domestic product has dwindled, investments have dried up, and productivity is suffering. Sovereignty was promised. What was delivered were red tape, friction, and frustration.
Populist politics is incredibly damaging: This is the case in Britain, and now it is in the United States. And this could also happen in Germany if enough voters hand over the state to the extreme populists of the AfD as a testing ground. One doesn’t need to be a prophet to foresee what will happen then: First come the easy answers, then the institutional fires, and finally the excuses. It’s always someone else’s fault: Brussels, Berlin, the media, the courts, foreigners, the established parties, the weather. But never those who wanted to build a government program out of resentment.
The lessons from Trump’s failure are therefore crystal clear: First, you mustn’t appease blackmailers by handing them the silverware. Those who back down from every threat only encourage the aggressor to make the next one. Instead, what’s needed is a firm stance, as demonstrated by Canada’s Prime Minister. Democrats must learn that giving in to political bullying is not peaceful, but reckless.
Magyar’s secret EU campaign revealed: how Hungary conveyed its message across Europe – and how much we paid for it.