German Green Party MEP Daniel Freund, known for his rabid hatred of Orbán’s government to the point that he appears to be in need of psychological help, is currently meeting with Hungarian opposition figures in Hungary. Despite being a German politician arguably meant to represent Germany, his Twitter feed is almost entirely devoted to Hungary and Viktor Orbán to the point it is hard to believe he is real and not some AI-generated bot created in Brussels with ample funding from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and other Atlanticist influence operations.
Freund took to Twitter yesterday to post a photo of himself in Budapest. In the photo is also former opposition politician Gábor Iványi.
Freund has been one of the European politicians lobbying hardest to cut EU funds to Hungary, a point he routinely advertises on his Twitter. As noted, Freund has very little in his profile about Germany at all. While it is clear he appears to be politically specializing in going after Hungary, it is also astounding how little time the politician devotes to his home country.
Freund also partakes in the crudest form of propaganda over and over again. It could be argued that all politicians are propagandists in one form or another, but Freund lacks any subtlety or finesse. In fact, he often ends up being instantaneously embarrassing, as many of his posts are immediately debunked, or he is simply made to look foolish in mere moments. It does not seem to phase him in the slightest. To his credit, he just soldiers on, often with an equally embarrassing post shortly after the last one.
For example, he made this post about Orbán, which was immediately and easily mocked by users on Twitter.
It is fair to say that Orbán is a nationalist and that he openly professes his love for his country. He is not afraid of the Hungarian flag and routinely features it in photos and speeches. However, even “globalist” politicians like Joe Biden routinely feature the flag in speeches, and often a lot of them. In fact, Hungary’s opposition built an entire stand out of the Hungarian flag during the campaign last year. Politicians of all stripes tend to like national flags and are usually not afraid to display them — not just Viktor Orbán or other politicians that Freund loathes. Either Freund knows this and is taking part in clunky and frankly sad propaganda, or he is really just a very deranged person.
Just admit it, Danny, you hate nations, the ide of any kind of national identity and pride (except the Ukrainian, of course). You are a kind of Übermensch, the archetype of the new Homo Sovieticus 2.0. pic.twitter.com/ZyI3UhhHBt
— Máté Fülöp (@YerbaMateo) February 21, 2023It does not end there. Right before the “Orbán flag post,” Freund posted a photograph of Hungary’s foreign minister shaking hands with a Chinese official, with Freund attempting to claim this is some kind of evidence that Hungary supports dictatorships.
Again, Freund was immediately mocked in the comments. Users showcased the ample number of photographs of left-wing German and U.S. officials doing the same exact thing, including from Freund’s own Green party, with Annalena Baerbock shaking hands with the same Chinese official just months ago.
— Deli Dániel ?? (@DeliDniel3) February 21, 2023
Other users pointed to the Green Economy Minister Robert Habeck striking gas deals with Qatar, a regime where democracy is officially illegal, the rights of women and gay people are severely restricted, and sharia law is the law of the land. Habeck was photographed with numerous Qatari leaders, including the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in Doha.
The German MEP routinely celebrates that key EU funding to Hungary is frozen, amounting to billions of euros. Although this MEP would likely claim that he supports Hungary but just wants to see the nation without the Orbán government, these funding cuts affect all Hungarians. They are funds that could be used on Hungarian schools, roads and the country’s transition to green energy. However, given that the Fidesz party continues to win elections with landslide results, the EU has turned to punishing the entire Hungarian population to remove Orbán from power, with politicians like Freund seen as key enforcers of this policy.
Freund is a real person with real power, and he is on the vanguard of politicians working to ensure Hungary is financially starved. In the past, for example, Freund commissioned an expert study that recommended the suspension of 100 percent of the funds due to Hungary. Although he now plays a key role in disenfranchising Hungarians — often with claims that Hungary is corrupt despite the EU itself being mired in a historic corruption scandal involving left-wing politicians — Hungary’s opposition is also cozying up to the Green politician.
It is also worth mentioning that he is a former employee of Transparency International, which receives substantial funding from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations. Pointing this out sometimes feels like flogging a dead horse, but there is an entire industry that has sprung up around attacking the Hungarian government and ample money and power for those willing to do it with unabashed zeal.
There appears to be very little that can be done to reason with Freund. He is not the type to negotiate or partake in a well-meaning debate. While his posts may be easily debunked and even the subject of mockery, this will certainly not diminish his standing in his own party or among Hungary’s opposition. In fact, such amateurish propaganda may be lacking in savvy, but it cements the view that this man hates Orbán with a burning passion, and in terms of future career choices, that is a winning formula in Brussels.
