A network associated with pro-Kremlin elements is impersonating leading media outlets to disseminate false accusations against Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar ahead of the parliamentary vote.
A counterfeit article styled like Euronews and a corresponding website allege that Hungary’s opposition figure Péter Magyar insulted Donald Trump, circulating within a broader operation traced to Storm-1516, a Russian disinformation campaign.
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The piece, published under a genuine byline on a fraudulent Euronews-branded website now removed, claims Magyar launched a scathing attack on Trump during a campaign event.
Among the fabricated statements, the text asserts that Magyar labelled Trump a «senile grandpa» and vowed to revoke «key agreements» with the US if he wins Hungary’s parliamentary elections scheduled for 12 April.
The narrative is entirely false, and the platform hosting it is unaffiliated with Euronews.
A video repeating these claims, using Euronews’ branding, is also circulating on social media. The Cube, Euronews’ fact-checking unit, identified versions of this video spreading since Monday evening, some accumulating thousands of views.
These videos were uploaded by accounts sharing similar descriptions in rapid succession, suggesting a coordinated effort. The accounts posting this footage mostly remain anonymous, with X’s geo-location tools indicating origins in the US and Africa.
Antibot for Navalny, a collective monitoring Russian botnets, informed The Cube that this post is part of Storm-1516, a widespread Russian disinformation campaign advancing Kremlin interests online.
This group typically becomes active during electoral periods, having propagated false information about Democratic candidates in the 2024 US presidential election and during Germany’s federal elections in February 2025.
In December, Germany’s Foreign Minister summoned the Russian ambassador over repeated hybrid interference attempts, including Storm-1516’s active disinformation during the German elections.
At that time, the campaign targeted the Green Party’s Chancellor candidate Robert Habeck and incumbent Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Prior to Hungary’s upcoming parliamentary elections, Magyar’s Tisza Party will face off against current Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Magyar has accused Hungary’s intelligence service of sabotaging his party’s campaign infrastructure weeks before the election, amid a hostile atmosphere where polls indicate his party in the lead.
Meanwhile, Orbán has been implicated in a scandal in Brussels after a Washington Post investigation exposed that Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó frequently leaked sensitive information from high-level EU meetings directly to Moscow.
Despite opposition from other European leaders, Orbán maintains close Kremlin contacts and has used Hungary’s veto power to obstruct crucial EU aid decisions for Ukraine.