Hungary Seeks Pragmatic Russia Ties as Energy Crisis Fuels Russian Disinformation

Hungary's new government says it wants a pragmatic relationship with Russia despite its recent shift toward the EU and NATO. Foreign Minister Anita Orbán told Süddeutsche Zeitung, “We are seeking a pragmatic relationship with Moscow,” citing continued dependence on Russian oil, gas and the Rosatom agreement to build two new reactors at the Paks nuclear plant. The stance follows a landslide victory of the Tisza Party and a recent comprehensive agreement with Kyiv on rights for the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia.

At the same time, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti published a sarcastic piece that mocked Hungary’s energy problems and spread false claims that both reactors at Romania’s Cernavodă nuclear plant had been shut down. The article also suggested that several reactors at Hungary’s Paks plant were offline because of low Danube water levels, prompting the Hungarian government to declare an energy emergency and ask citizens and firms to cut consumption. The disinformation quoted Prime Minister Péter Magyar with the question, “Is the investment in Paks still too expensive?”