Máté Kocsis thinks the disinformation campaign launched by Ukraine is for undermining Hungary's ability to assert its interests.Continue reading
The Hungarian opposition media is spreading rumors that Viktor Orbán bought a villa in Italy through intermediaries. This time, the Prime Minister did not take the fake news half-heartedly and threatened with a libel suit, Magyar Nemzet reports.
“Today, the fake news press came up with the story that I have an Italian villa in addition to zebras. (…) The press lawsuits are starting!” wrote Mr Orbán on his social media page.
This week, the opposition media began reporting that, according to an Italian news portal,
a Hungarian company linked to Árpád Habony and Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky had purchased a property in Lombardy, which is already being referred to as the “Orbán villa.”
This time, the Prime Minister did not find the fake news as funny as he did last time, when Péter Magyar, president of the Tisza Party, began spreading rumors that Viktor Orbán had a safari park with zebras. Mr Orbán saw the humor in the suggestion then and launched “Operation Zebra,” which ultimately resulted in him adopting a zebra at the Budapest Zoo. However, the latest purveyors of fake news appear to be facing not a joke, but lawyers.
The most recent press lawsuit on behalf of the Prime Minister was against Index which Viktor Orbán won. The Prime Minister has thus won all eight lawsuits concerning media outlets he brought before the Curia (Supreme Court) in connection with articles published on the basis of false statements made by the Austrian managing director of SPAR. Last March, Hans Reisch told a German media outlet that the Prime Minister had asked the company to “allow his relative to invest in the Hungarian subsidiary.” The article’s claims were then reported as fact by several media outlets, and the Curia has also ruled that they are untrue, Mandiner reported.
Via Magyar Nemzet, Mandiner; Featured photo via MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Benko Vivien Cher