Hungary’s Viktor Orbán seeking to drum up votes by doing down Ukraine

EU’s longest-serving leader hopes to retain power by telling voters the main threat to country comes from Kyiv Paid for by its rightwing, populist government and generated using AI, the billboards – showing Volodymyr Zelenskyy and EU officials with their hands outstretched – blanket Hungary. “Our message to Brussels: We won’t pay!” the taxpayer-funded advert reads, echoing the messaging woven through spots on radio, television and social media. It’s a nod to the election strategy that Viktor ...

By Flora Garamvolgyi in Budapest and Ashifa Kassam