A misinformation influence campaign has been launched, in the German language, about Hungary leaving the European Union and joining BRICS. Despite the information campaign being based on entirely false information, it rapidly spread on social media, including a translated version in Czechia.
Who is behind these campaigns? It could be opposition activists in Hungary, but given that some of these campaigns are in foreign languages, such as German, it could also be state intelligence agencies, foreign NGOs, and other shadowy actors looking to discredit Hungary. With national elections fast approaching this year in Hungary, expect these campaigns to grow in frequency.
This time, Czech news outlet Novinky, usually no friend to Orbán’s government, reported that the post circulating about Hungary leaving the EU is false for many reasons.
“After all, until the end of last year, it was Hungary that held the presidency of the European Union. In November, there was even an informal meeting of the European Council in Budapest, where the Budapest Declaration on strengthening the Union’s global competitiveness was adopted,” the paper wrote.
Furthermore, Hungarian Foreign Minister Petr Szijjártó said that BRICS “is an attractive organization for many countries“ and his nation is willing to work with it, but membership is not even a question at this point.
The BRICS is a group originally composed of the states of Brazil, Russia, India and China, and in 2011, South Africa joined them. Since then, 11 members, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran, have joined.
As for Hungary leaving the EU, there have been whisper campaigns about this for some time, especially from an opposition that is well aware that Hungarians are firmly in the camp of staying in the EU.
“Similar reports about Hungary leaving the European Union appeared already in 2023. At that time, Orbán was supposed to announce the country’s departure from the European 27 in his New Year’s speech. In the end, the panic was moderated by fact-checking projects and the Hungarian embassy in Prague. Although Orbán has been criticizing the European Union for a long time, he is not considering leaving. Conversely. According to him, it would rather harm Hungary,” wrote Novinky.
“In Orbán’s last speech, although he criticized the EU on September 7, he certainly did not call for its abandonment. He confirmed this in one of the last interviews. He repeated the same thing during a meeting with Donald Trump,” the media outlet continues.
In fact, Orbán has repeatedly claimed throughout the years that there is no chance his country is leaving the EU. Instead, he has the specific goal of turning the EU into a force that respects national sovereignty and is, overall, a more conservative organization — certainly a tall order for a Brussels currently dominated by the left. To this end, Orbán was instrumental in forming the Patriots of Europe group in the European Parliament.
In fact, even world leaders, such as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, have spread rumors that Hungary is leaving the bloc.
“Don’t raise your hopes too high, Hungary will not leave the EU,” Orbán hit back at Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk earlier this year.
Dear Donald,
Don’t raise your hopes too high. Hungary will not leave the EU. We will transform it with the @PatriotsEU, to restore it to what it once was when Poland and Hungary joined.
Back then, Brussels bureaucrats served the people instead of themselves. Back then,… https://t.co/AmbCyl6Q9d
— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) April 25, 2025Novinky further examined the numbers.
It found that 85 percent of Hungarian exports go to EU markets, a huge factor in why Hungary has no plans to leave. Hungary is highly integrated in the German supply chain, along with other countries. It is also landlocked, making leaving all the more difficult.
Hungarians, in turn, fully back staying in the EU, with surveys showing that up to 85 percent of Hungarians want to remain in the bloc.
