According to political marketer Michal Novota, it is possible that Orbán appealed to Slovaks and Slovak Hungarians on the basis of the language or sites they interact with.
“Hungarian election campaigns regularly cross borders due to language exclusivity. There is a relatively polarized fight between two blocs in the Hungarian parliamentary elections and Orbán’s attempt to draw a purposefully chosen conflict with President Zelensky into the campaign. In the past, this was regularly done through the call centers of the Fidesz party, which directly addressed selected voters of the Hungarian community and created databases from them to build a relationship,” Novota described.
However, according to him, it may not be the most effective campaign, which he compared to a carpet raid. “The authors rather count on the explosiveness of the content, which can attack the identity of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia. They plan to count on controversy,” he added.
From Pellegrini to Hungarian
The Hungarian election campaign did not reach Slovakia only through Viktor Orbán’s Facebook messages. Pro-Orbán rhetoric was also spread by wrestler Attila Végh. He published a video in Hungarian on his Instagram profile with more than 400,000 followers, in which, like Orbán, he threatens the third world war.
“What is happening in the world? EU leaders are declaring that the third world war is coming and that EU soldiers would go to fight in Ukraine. And these are just a few examples from the recent period. I am glad that Hungary is on the side of peace. I feel safe. It is very important for me that Hungary remains at peace in the future, because we from Felvidék (Hungarians living in Slovakia, editor’s note) have the same opinion. We need peace and no guns. Go ahead, Hungarians!” Végh says in the video. The video is accompanied by shots of soldiers in the trenches, created by artificial intelligence.
It is artificial intelligence that is a big player in the ongoing Hungarian campaign. A fake video of European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen driving opposition leader Péter Magyar has gone viral. The video was also shared by Orbán himself.
Although Végh is also known in Hungary, he does not usually post videos in Hungarian on his Instagram profile. Calling for “peace” and addressing Hungarians, this post deviates from what Végh usually offers his followers.
The wrestler is directly connected to the current government coalition of Smer, SNS and Hlas in several ways. In the presidential campaign, he supported Peter Pellegrini, whom he also referred to as the president of peace. He also promoted Kaliňák’s National Defense Forces.
Végh also became an official athlete of the state Dukla Banská Bystrica, although the fighting sport of MMA, which he practices, is not an official sport in Slovakia. The wrestler also signed a contract with the Ministry of Agriculture and had one with the Slovak Plynárenský pryemysl (SPP). Minister of Agriculture Richard Takáč (Smer) often shares photos from Végh’s gym.
Interference in elections from abroad
Orbán is spreading theories among people that Ukrainians are actively influencing the Hungarian election campaign. We have also heard similar statements in recent months in Slovakia. In January 2025, for example, Zelensky shared a picture from an opposition protest in Bratislava and wrote that “Slovakia is not Moscow, Slovakia is Europe”. Prime Minister Fico responded to this in a discussion session by saying that “this is an absolutely inadequate interference in the internal affairs of the Slovak Republic”.
In the summer of last year, the Prime Minister also accused the government of Great Britain of interfering in the internal affairs of Slovakia before the last elections.
Despite this, Smer representatives are currently actively commenting on the events in Hungary. Robert Fico himself said that if Orbán loses the election, Slovakia will take over the baton and block the 90 billion loan for Ukraine at the European level. Together with Orbán, Fico is spreading speculation that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy deliberately disabled the Druzhba pipeline in order to damage Slovakia and Hungary – one of the main themes of the Hungarian election campaign.
Fico also commented on the situation on Wednesday at the European Committee in Parliament. “How can it be bombed (the Brody pumping station in Ukraine, editor’s note)? Satellite images show that only one storage tank is burnt. We are not small children, it is a big game for the Hungarian elections,” claimed the prime minister. He thus supported the claims in the messages that Orbán sends out among Slovaks.
Smer MP at Orbán’s protest
In the past, Fic didn’t even like it when the then Czech Minister of the Interior, Vít Rakušan, came to Bratislava for an opposition protest. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Juraj Blanár from Smer, condemned it at the time and described it as interference in Slovakia’s internal affairs.
Smer MP Zuzana Matejíčková took part in the pro-Orbán march in Budapest. “PEACE AND SECURITY. The largest peace march in Budapest today was also known as ‘Békemenet’. Estimates vary, but according to relevant information, the participation is estimated to be up to 2 million people. Our Slovak-Hungarian relations have been linked for more than a thousand years, we live together in the same territory and support the same ideas and values of human life and peace, may we continue to live in harmony,” she wrote on Facebook to the video of the protest.
The chairman of the SNS coalition Andrej Danko also openly supports Orbán in the elections. “We also express serious concern about the course of the elections in Hungary. If Viktor Orbán were to fall, the nakedness of Robert Fico’s politics would be shown live, because Viktor Orbán is blocking many things,” he said after the weekend SNS Diet. “If Orbán falls, there will be a problem. But Zelenskyi is not arbitrary. Zelenskyi is as arbitrary as Mrs. President Čaputová was.” later in the V politics session on TA3.
The topic of the conflict between Hungary and Ukraine is also communicated by Hlas MP Michal Bartek, who has published several statuses about Zelensky in recent weeks. In one of them, like Orbán, he attacks the Ukrainian president and talks about peace.
“And when Ukraine lacks gas, we suddenly become good neighbors for Zelensky, and he imports it from us and from the hated Orbán from Hungary. I wish Ukraine peace as soon as possible, which will mean the end of senseless killing among Slavs. I am convinced that this peace will also mean the end of Zelensky, who is dragging Ukraine into a huge abyss,” Bartek wrote in his status.
Hungarian elections through the eyes of the Slovak opposition
The opposition leader, the chairman of Progressive Slovakia, Michal Šimečka, criticized Viktor Orbán’s campaign actions, for example, in the use of the Hungarian army. The local prime minister deployed it at the beginning of March to “protect critical energy infrastructure”, but according to Šimeček, it is a means of intimidation and he thinks that this is also a threat in Slovakia.
“This government takes its manuals from autocratic leaders, and I fear that if they had this tool in their hands, they would abuse it, for example, in the election campaign,” stated Šimečka in the Na telo show. In the V politike show, Šimečka described Orbán as Putin’s Trojan horse in the European Union.
His party colleague and defense expert for PS Tomáš Valášek evaluated the situation on the Družba oil pipeline, which, according to him, is a burden to Orbán. “Of course, we blame President Zelensky for not allowing an inspection of the oil pipeline site,” he said in STVR after experts from the European Union wanted to inspect the pipeline, but Kyiv did not allow it.
“Zelensky thereby hurts himself, weakens his own argument and, above all, helps Viktor Orbán in his annoying hate campaign that he has unleashed at the moment,” assessed Valášek.
Vladimíra Marcinková from SaS evaluated Orbán’s actions with the opinion that by looking for enemies in Ukraine, he is trying to cover up the “babble” of his government. In this, he also sees parallels with Slovak government parties.
“You are looking for an enemy in Ukraine, in Brussels… Instead of stopping to deal with yourselves, as was the case at the last session of the parliament,” Marcinková told the government coalition.
