<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/09/meps-alarm-possible-russian-interference-hungary-elections>
"The European Commission is being urged to investigate whether Hungary’s
elections are being undermined by Russian manipulation, intimidation of
journalists and voter coercion by the ruling party.
Three days before decisive parliamentary elections that threaten the 16-year
grip on power of the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, a group of MEPs have written
to the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the
commissioner responsible for the rule of law, Michael McGrath, calling for
action.
The cross-party group want an urgent assessment “before and immediately after”
polling day on whether the conditions for free and fair competition are being
undermined by disinformation, foreign manipulation, state-resource misuse,
intimidation of journalists and unlawful interference with opposition actors.
The appeal came as the European Commission demanded an urgent explanation from
Budapest over a leaked recording that appeared to show a further instance of
the Hungarian foreign minister covertly helping his Russian counterpart.
In their letter, MEPs cited a report by the independent media outlet VSquare
that the Kremlin has dispatched a team to manipulate Hungary’s elections. The
operation was reported to be overseen by Sergei Kiriyenko, the first deputy
chief of staff to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Kiriyenko was alleged
to have orchestrated a similar campaign in Moldova, where a massive vote-buying
operation and troll farms were reported to have targeted the pro-EU president,
Maia Sandu.
The journalist who wrote the report, Szabolcs Panyi, was subsequently accused
by the Hungarian authorities of spying for Ukraine, and had been “targeted in a
state-led intimidation of unprecedented severity”, the MEPs wrote.
The group also raised concerns over “credible allegations” of unauthorised
attempts to access the opposition party’s IT systems, including by state
security forces. They flagged well-documented reports of vote-buying and
intimidation by the ruling Fidesz party, warning of a serious risk of voter
coercion. “The union cannot credibly defend democracy externally while failing
to react when the integrity of elections inside the union itself is placed
under such serious strain,” they said."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
