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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán accused the European Union on Wednesday of trying to establish a “puppet government” in Budapest, and urged Hungarian citizens to defy Brussels like they confronted the Soviet army in 1956.
“Brussels has announced that it will get rid of Hungary’s national government. They have also announced that they want to impose a Brussels puppet government on the country. Here again is the old question: Do we bow to the will of a foreign power, this time the will of Brussels, or do we resist it?” Orbán told a crowd that had gathered in the Hungarian capital to commemorate the anniversary of the country’s uprising against the former Soviet Union.
“I propose that our response should be as clear and unequivocal as it was in 1956,” Orbán said, adding that he will “not tolerate Hungary being turned once again into a puppet state, into a vassal of Brussels.”
By the time the 1956 uprising was quelled, less than three weeks after it began, some 2,500 Hungarians were dead and over 20,000 wounded; nearly a quarter of a million fled the country.
Almost 70 years later, under Orbán’s illiberal rule, Hungary has increasingly positioned itself against its purported allies in NATO and the EU, and has frustrated Western efforts to sanction Russia for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine or to support Kyiv. The Budapest uprising, which began Oct. 23, 1956, was ultimately crushed by the Red Army; Orbán used the culturally freighted moment to rail against Brussels and the victory plan of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for defeating invading Russian troops.
“[Zelenskyy’s] victory plan is to extend the war [in Ukraine],” Orbán told the crowd. “In other words, we Hungarians would wake up one morning to find Slavic soldiers from the east stationed on Hungarian territory again. We do not want that.”
Orbán currently faces a serious threat to his rule in the form of Peter Magyár, a conservative pro-European figure from the opposition Tisza party, who used to be a part of Orbán’s inner circle. Magyár continues to win over voters by calling out the corruption and rule-of-law concerns linked to the Hungarian government.
Hours before the prime minister’s speech, a fresh poll indicated that Tisza has the support of 42 percent of Hungarian voters, with Orbán’s Fidesz party lagging behind on 40 percent. It’s the first time Fidesz has been behind in the polls since Orbán came to power in 2010.
Csongor Körömi contributed to this report.
