Daniel Fazekas

social media researcher, strategic communications, interested & curious, Founder @bakamosocial

[Daniel Fazekas @fazekasdani]

make europe great again

Here's the manual
https://t.co/g1MhYC05fC

[Daniel Fazekas @fazekasdani]

@FM_Szijjarto Let's go #Hatvanpuszta team

[Daniel Fazekas @fazekasdani]

Welcome to #Hatvanpuszta News!

[Новости «Агентства» @agents_media]

Kremlin-backed bots have begun circulating videos about “an assassination attempt” on Viktor Orban. The staged incident was part of a secret plan by the SVR

The “Matryoshka” disinformation network, linked to the Russian authorities, has begun circulating videos on the social media platform X about an “alleged coup being prepared in Hungary” in the event of a victory by the ruling Fidesz party in the upcoming parliamentary elections, as well as preparations for “an assassination attempt" on its leader and Prime Minister Viktor Orban, @antibot4navalny told the “Agentstvo”. On Saturday, The Washington Post reported on a proposal by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) to stage an assassination attempt on Orban to ensure his and Fidesz’s victory in the elections.

Details. The first video containing information about a possible assassination attempt on Orbán was published on March 17. The video, attributed to Deutsche Welle, states that “a group of Ukrainian refugees sustained fatal injuries in Hungary while attempting to detonate a homemade explosive device near Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s office.” Thanks to inflated views, the tweet with the video garnered about 100,000 views.

▪️Two days later, a video bearing the logo of “Television and Radio Moldova” (TRM) was published, falsely claiming that Hungarians were receiving messages from Ukrainians “calling on them to take up arms, resist the authorities, and kill Orban.” Another video bearing the logo of the Ukrainian media platform United24 falsely claimed that Oleg Tatarov, deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, had called on Hungarians to “vote with their blood.” The video also reported that Tatarov had called on people to take up arms and achieve “the liberation of Hungary through bloodshed.” The tweet garnered 23,000 views.

▪️One of the videos published on March 20 (the tweet with the video garnered 24,000 views) falsely claimed that Yevhen Khmara, acting head of the SBU, had posted Orban’s personal information on X, including his addresses, with the call to “Take action.” The tweet stated that “Ukraine seeks to spread the flames of bloody revolutions across Europe, starting with Hungary.”

▪️Matryoshka’s videos also mention that “Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he could pass Viktor Orban’s phone number to the Ukrainian military,” and that Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins allegedly accused the SBU of preparing a “plan for a violent seizure of power in Hungary.”

▪️A representative of the “Bot Blocker” project said that he had not previously encountered threats of a military coup in “Matryoshka” if a pro-Kremlin candidate won the election. “In the case of the U.S. presidential [election], there were only threats of unrest from those who did not recognize Trump’s victory. In other election [campaigns], it seems there wasn’t even that,” the project representative wrote to the “Agentstvo.”

▪️Matryoshka accounts began posting videos related to the Hungarian elections on March 13. Starting March 19, the elections were mentioned in all videos. “Based on the experience in Moldova and Armenia, this is one of the best indicators of the campaign’s objectives,” wrote a representative of “Bot Blocker.”

SVR Proposal. On Saturday, the WP, citing an internal SVR report, reported that Russian intelligence was concerned about Orban’s falling approval ratings and proposed a way to “fundamentally change the paradigm of the election campaign” by “organizing an assassination attempt” on the prime minister.

▪️According to documents reviewed by the WP, the plan included creating videos using AI and spreading disinformation on social media.

▪️It is unclear at what level within the Russian leadership the SVR’s proposal was reviewed. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the publication “an example of disinformation.”

Context. Elections in Hungary will take place on April 12. In early March, the publication Vsquare reported that three GRU officers had arrived in Budapest posing as diplomats, tasked with influencing the elections and ensuring Orban’s victory. The campaign plan was approved by Vladimir Putin, the Financial Times reported.

▪️Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has made 16 official visits to Moscow, the most recent of which took place on March 4. In addition, as one European diplomat told the WP, Szijjarto regularly called Sergey Lavrov during breaks in EU meetings to provide him with “operational reports.”

[Peter Buda @peter1buda]

Hope dies last (and hard).

Viktor Orbán, September 30, 2025:
"The American president often asks for my opinion, and I told him: this war is over, the Russians have won, it's a closed matter."

Pope Francis, May 3, 2022:
"Orbán, when I met with him, said that the Russians have a plan, and that everything will be over by May 9 [2022]."

[Daniel Fazekas @fazekasdani]

#HATVANPUSZTA $NEWS $tesla

[Peter Buda @peter1buda]

Hope dies last (and hard).

Viktor Orbán, September 30, 2025:
"The American president often asks for my opinion, and I told him: this war is over, the Russians have won, it's a closed matter."

Pope Francis, May 3, 2022:
"Orbán, when I met with him, said that the Russians have a plan, and that everything will be over by May 9 [2022]."

[Daniel Fazekas @fazekasdani]

@zoltanspox @panyiszabolcs #HATVANPUSZTA $NEWS

[WarMonitor🇺🇦🇬🇧 @WarMonitor3]

Hungarian drones violated Ukrainian airspace-Zelensky

[Daniel Fazekas @fazekasdani]

@Brandwatch @Brandwatch no wonder critical errors don't get fixed if you deny them - and don't update the system status page with critical incidents. Really not the service and attitude one would expect.

[Daniel Fazekas @fazekasdani]

@Brandwatch Check the export function - and maybe get support to escalate it. Thanks!

[Daniel Fazekas @fazekasdani]

@Brandwatch Thanks - You guys lost access to Reddit data over 3 days ago - this is a pretty major issue - worth noting on your status page, don't you think?

[GermanForeignOffice @GermanyDiplo]

Like it or not: Germany’s energy system is fully operational, with more than 50% renewables. And we are shutting down – not building – coal & nuclear plants. Coal will be off the grid by 2038 at the latest. PS: We also don’t eat cats and dogs. #Debate2024

[FES Democracy of the Future @FES_Democracy]

Thanks to everyone who joined in to discuss our newest publication, and to @EszterKovats & @fazekasdani for their insightful comments!

📚How democratically elected politicians get away with autocratizing #Hungary🇭🇺 is available on our website 👇
https://t.co/APS4U0hxxQ

[Daniel Fazekas @fazekasdani]

Would have anyone guessed 10-15 years ago that an obscure EU Parliament vote has any national repercussions? Hell no!

Now look at: FR, NL, DE, HU...

In a kinda cool, implicit way this proves to anyone that the @Europarl_EN is a salient & real thing.

Congrats!

[Arundati Dandapani @itadnura]

🎉 Join us @Generation1C
for Empathy Now! A Consumer Citizen Love Story #masterclass on February 14th, 2024 at 11 AM EST. Let's celebrate the power of #empathy & #sociallistening in #leading + #building a better world! Link below #EmpathyNow #Mrx #Insights https://t.co/g7vfGRvCsj

[Daniel Fazekas @fazekasdani]

A few thoughts about what data AI has access to. Would love your hear your comments!

[Bakamo.Social @BakamoSocial]

Will lack of data undermine AI's ability to automate research? Read our co-founder's article and let us know !

https://t.co/HSCydjZ5Ki

[Bakamo.Social @BakamoSocial]

🎶🌟 In this strange game of data and insights, we're dancing through the digital night. As the holiday season unfolds, we at Bakamo are thrilled to share our festive cheer. 🎄✨

#Bakamo #ChristmasCheer #DigitalInsights #HolidaySeason #MRX #socialintelligence

[Daniel Fazekas @fazekasdani]

#professional #update - super news from @BakamoSocial -> Welcome @mogojdholai our Research Director!

[Research-live.com @researchlive]

Social intelligence research business Bakamo has appointed Ipsita Bandyopadhyay as research director:

https://t.co/KsGZS7IHHT #mrx

[Research Center for the History of Transformations @recetvienna]

Today RECET hosts a book presentation and discussion: Deserved. Economic Memories After the Fall of the Iron Curtain by @till_hilmar.
@evrop_anka, Dorit Geva, @MishaGlenny and @philipp_ther comment on the book.
Moderated by @andullhak

[Daniel Fazekas @fazekasdani]

Judging by the notifications on @X one can deduce following equation: Quality of a social media channel = Frequency x Engagement x Relevance = <1. QED.

[Dan Foreman @winifredatwell]

New @BakamoSocial office for September in @welovebudapest @fazekasdani