March 21, 2026

Moscow Proposed Staging an Assassination Attempt on Orbán to Boost His Ratings - WP

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) proposed staging an assassination attempt on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to increase his electoral rating on the eve of the April elections. This is reported by The Washington Post, citing documents. SVR internal documents, obtained and confirmed by the intelligence of one of the European countries (not specified which), state that an assassination attempt on Orbán could shift the perception of the elections from a rational plane to an emotional one, where the key themes would be 'state security and stability,' rather than the country's socio-economic situation. Currently, the party of Viktor Orbán's main opponent, Péter Magyar, is considered the favorite of the race, and more than half of Hungary's residents are dissatisfied with the state of affairs in the country, according to the SVR report. It is unknown at what level this idea was discussed. The Kremlin called this data 'another example of disinformation.' As WP notes, Moscow is very interested in Orbán's victory in the parliamentary elections in April, as Budapest has repeatedly hindered the implementation of key EU political initiatives and served as a 'link for the Kremlin with American conservatives in the hope of creating a new post-liberal world order': 'The very idea of an assassination attempt on Orbán shows how high the stakes are for Moscow in the Hungarian election race,' the journalists write.