Bence X. Szechenyi

[Bence X. Szechenyi @BenceXavier]

Interjút készített velem a Válasz Online. Itt olvasható: https://t.co/2kUeCax6xm

[Szabolcs Panyi @panyiszabolcs]

Over the past decade, Western far-right figures have effectively colonized Hungary, serving as Orbán’s pseudo-intellectual mercenaries: milking the state, running institutions, obtaining Hungarian (and EU) passports, and attacking and smearing Orbán’s critics at home and abroad.

[Bence X. Szechenyi @BenceXavier]

@rodballester @BulwarkOnline @cibiscosisagain @stengel @JohnAvlon Good (non-government funded) information available here https://t.co/oJy4qEg0Me Orbánomics has been a disaster for Hungary

[Bence X. Szechenyi @BenceXavier]

@rodballester @BulwarkOnline @cibiscosisagain @stengel @JohnAvlon That average annual wages chart is skewed by Orban’s oligarchs (and Spanish propagandists) who earn far far more than the average Hungarian, just for being politically in-line. I encourage you to leave Budapest and you’ll see for yourself. That’s why people demanded change.

[Bence X. Szechenyi @BenceXavier]

@rodballester Awww I didn’t stake my entire career on orban so I’m doing fine 😂😂 thanks for your concern little man

[Bence X. Szechenyi @BenceXavier]

This is the other apologist narrative I'm seeing, given credence by the like of the WSJ editorial board as well. A stunning opposition political movement doesn't make FIdesz's antidemocratic actions irrelevant. Just cause authoritarians can be beaten doesn't mean are harmless.

[Rod Dreher @roddreher]

Oh, horseshit. Orban won four free elections in a row. He lost this one because the economy has been lousy for three years, & ppl wanted change. Fair play. It’s hard for globalists to understand, but it’s still democracy when ppl vote in ways you don’t like.

[Bence X. Szechenyi @BenceXavier]

It's remarkable how they continue with this counterfactual victim mentality despite clear evidence that it doesn't resonate with voters.

[MCC Brussels @MCC_Brussels]

We must not forget about the financial warfare waged on Hungary.

Students excluded from Erasmus, funds withheld, fines levied.

The European Commission certainly waged a brutal campaign against Orbán.

@SmiechLiliana

[Anita Orban @_OrbanAnita]

The core message is clear: Magyar government will restore freedom, the rule of law, and democratic governance. Not as abstract ideals, but as the foundation of a functioning state. Hungary aims to rebuild its credibility within NATO and the European Union - acting as a constructive, reliable partner that contributes to a stronger Europe. Predictability and stability are key commitments from day one. The goal is a Hungary that allies can trust, and citizens can rely on. This also means a firm stance on human rights, and a return to honest, transparent governance.

# First international press conference of Prime Minister-Elect, Péter Magyar

[Pete @splendid_pete]

The state will not finance these things, neither the event called CPAC nor other related institutions such as the Mathias Corvinus Collegium and similar attached bodies. I believe the state should never have financed them in the first place, it was a crime. Mixing party financing with government spending from the state budget is, in my view, a criminal offense, and this will have to be investigated by the future authorities, including the National Office for the Recovery and Protection of Public Assets, since those budgetary funds were not meant to finance party events.

CPAC is welcome to come to Budapest, very welcome, but it should not be financed with Hungarian taxpayers’ money. It should be funded by Fidesz, or by Orbán’s proxies, at least until that money is taken back.

[Szabolcs Panyi @panyiszabolcs]

💥It’s high time for both Belgium’s State Security Service and Hungary’s Constitution Protection Office to investigate MCC—with its funding tied to Russian oil trade profits—as well as reports of some of its foreign scholars’ ties to Russian and Chinese state agencies.

[Bence X. Szechenyi @BenceXavier]

;,)

[Bence X. Szechenyi @BenceXavier]

Democracy can be patient. It can endure more than we thought. People can’t be lied to forever.

That’s a lesson for the world, I hope.

Elections are beginnings, not endings. The work continues now, intensifies even.

[Ursula von der Leyen @vonderleyen]

Ma este Európa szíve erősebben dobog Magyarországon.

Europe’s heart is beating stronger in Hungary tonight.

[Ulf Kristersson @SwedishPM]

Dear Viktor,

I understand that there is an election campaign in your country, and that this time you are truly being challenged for power.

But we do not interfere in your election campaign, nor do we want to become part of it.

Sweden and the Swedish people have always been friends of Hungary and the Hungarian people, as you know. We were friends of Hungary before your government, during your government, and we will remain so after your government.

We remember when Hitler’s genocide of Jews struck Hungary, and how Sweden in 1944 sent diplomat Raoul Wallenberg on a special mission to Budapest, to save as many Hungarian lives as possible.

Tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews survived because we provided them with provisional protective passports and citizenship here in Sweden. When the Soviet Union later invaded Hungary, Raoul Wallenberg was forcibly taken to Moscow and disappeared.

The Swedish diplomat died, but tens of thousands of Hungarian lives were saved. We would do it again.

We also remember when the Soviet Union brutally crushed your Hungarian struggle for democracy and freedom in 1956, and when Prime Minister Imre Nagy was later executed for his efforts to democratize the country.

When Russian tanks crushed the Hungarian freedom struggle, the Hungarian people pleaded with the UN and all Western powers for help. Almost no one listened.
But one country that showed deep solidarity with you was Sweden.

We opened our arms to your freedom fighters and dissidents. We allowed you to build exile opposition against Soviet communism here, despite our non-alignment. It was not without risk for us. But we did it anyway—because it was the right thing to do.

Today, over 40,000 people of Hungarian descent live in Sweden, many of whom are descendants of the Hungarian refugees who came here in connection with the 1956 uprising. They are a well-integrated immigrant group in our Swedish society.

Democratic states help each other, then and now. And they stand up against countries that try to oppress others.

That is why, just as in 1944 and 1956, we support democratic countries that Russian tanks try to overrun. Back then, it was about Hungary; today, it is about Ukraine. And if we do not act, it could be about another country tomorrow.

This is also why we often express concern about the developments in Hungary in recent years. Hungary ultimately regained its freedom, but freedom must also be defended.

That is why we question when you go to have coffee with the leader of the same country that crushed your compatriots’ freedom struggle in 1956 and that today attacks your neighbour, Ukraine.

Hungary and the West are not strengthened by closing the door to their European friends or by attacking each other and the very things that distinguish us from barbarism — democracy and the rule of law.

Let me conclude with some wise words from yourself in 2007:

“As kind of a new generation of the West, our message to those younger than we is to stick to a Western type Hungary, not to let Hungary be derailed from its Western path, and to love that Hungary is a Western type country, which means that we believe in the free will of people and in the mutual responsibility towards each other that we take upon us, which are inseparable parts of Western culture.

The oil might come from the east, but freedom always comes from the west. And democracy cannot be directed from above, it can only grow from the hearts of people and in this way create a viable, Hungarian life.”

Finally, I wish to convey Sweden’s respect for the Hungarian people, and to wish your country a free, peaceful, and successful election.

[Szabolcs Panyi @panyiszabolcs]

💥Viktor Orbán’s main lobbying arm abroad, Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), was founded by his ex-national security advisor András Tombor.

@444hu reveals testimonies suggesting MCC’s founder was the “godfather” behind a decade-long scheme siphoning public funds from Budapest.🧵

[Bence X. Szechenyi @BenceXavier]

@SophieTBHonest @MartonKami 😂😂😂

[Bence X. Szechenyi @BenceXavier]

Me and @MartonKami investigated Hungarian population decline. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has long promised to raise birthrates (& failed to do so), but we found that one third of the decline is caused by Hungarians moving to other EU countries: https://t.co/1fwMFu3oWd

[Bence X. Szechenyi @BenceXavier]

Thank you @direkt36 and @msexcel for making this possible 🫶

[Nieman Lab @NiemanLab]

“We found a special position in the Hungarian media landscape. We’re not part of the news cycle. We focus all of our resources on investigative projects, reporting on stories that matter for the audience.” @andraspe co-founder of @direkt36
https://t.co/LxesB9fpzM

[Bence X. Szechenyi @BenceXavier]

@philippilk Watch the film, man.