After Germany’s former chancellor, Angela Merkel, dispelled talk of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán working for Putin as “nonsense,” one opposition politician in Hungary had a fervent message.
While visiting Budapest last week and holding talks with Orbán, Merkel gave an interview to Partizán, during which she was asked about the relationship between Putin and Orbán.
“Have you ever felt that Viktor Orbán is President Putin’s Trojan horse inside the European Union?”
“No, that’s nonsense,” Merkel replies, shaking her head. “We’re not falling for that. We would never fall for such things. I find it absurd.”
⚠️ Years of politically driven accusations, reduced to a single word by 🇩🇪 Angela Merkel: “Nonsense.” The former German Chancellor dismissed as absurd the claim that 🇭🇺 @PM_ViktorOrban is "Russia’s Trojan horse". Even she refused to endorse such propaganda. pic.twitter.com/Dq9foEjJ83
— Balázs Orbán (@BalazsOrban_HU) October 4, 2025“Years of politically driven accusations, reduced to a single word by Angela Merkel: ‘Nonsense,’” posted Orbán’s political director, Balázs Orbán.
In what has become a widely covered outburst, Agnes Vadai, an MP for the Democratic Coalition (DK), posted on Facebook a rebuke to Merkel’s statement, essentially disregarding her as just another one of Putin’s cronies and indicating she believes that Merkel and Orbán are working together for Russia.
“The former chancellor, who grew up in the GDR, was one of those who did not stop Putin in 2014 when the Russians occupied Crimea. She was the one who insisted that economic relations would promote stronger political relations with Russia,” she wrote.
“Merkel only cared about the German economy, which is based on Russian energy! She often saved Orbán in the interests of German investments in Hungary, while showing no interest in the steadily deteriorating state of Hungarian democracy,” her post continues, full of exclamation marks.
Vadai then put forth her theory that both Orbán and Merkel are “Trojan horses” for Russia. “For the sake of her own reputation, she made unprincipled deals with Orbán in the European Union. In my opinion, Orbán is indeed Putin’s Trojan horse. But now it is clear that he was not alone!”
Vadai was one of the founding members of DK when it was still a faction inside the Socialist Party (MSZP) and then became its vice president after it became its own party in 2010 under the leadership of former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány.
Merkel held a meeting with Orbán as well, with Orbán posting photos of the two together on Facebook captioned: “Once a Chancellor, always a Chancellor in our eyes. Welcome to Hungary, Angela Merkel!”
The friendly meeting between the two was a surprise for some, given their staunch disagreement over migration and Orbán’s continuous stance that Merkel’s “Welcome culture” of open borders during the 2015-2016 migration crisis has led to the downfall of Europe.
