Hungarian newspaper close to PM publishes anti-Ukrainian article ahead of foreign minister's visit to Ukraine

The Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet, part of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's informal media empire, has published an article criticising Ukrainian media ahead of Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó's visit to Uzhhorod.

Source: the article in Magyar Nemzet; European Pravda

Quote from the anonymous article: "While a Potemkin village is being organised for the foreign press, not a single crumb of classical journalism can be found in the Ukrainian national press." [A Potemkin village is a construction (literal or figurative) whose purpose is to provide a façade to a situation, to make people believe that the situation is better than it is – ed.]

Details: The Media Center Ukraine comes in for particular criticism from Magyar Nemzet: "They provide additional information to correspondents visiting the Eastern European country regarding what is permitted and what is not. For example, they explain how to correctly describe and pronounce the names of settlements in Ukrainian, omitting their original Russian names. According to this, Kiev is Kyiv, Kharkov is Kharkiv, Dniepr is Dnipro, Donbass is Donbas, and Odessa has to be Odesa."

Yet the Magyar Nemzet article refers to Lviv as Lemberg, despite the fact that the correct name, Lviv, is also common in Hungary and is used by the Hungarian government.

The article is also critical of independent Ukrainian media outlets, claiming that they are funded by George Soros or European taxpayers to publish articles that please the Ukrainian authorities.

"Male writers working at media organisations with such connections are at no risk of mobilisation; they can enjoy privileges provided they berate Russians, Slovaks, Hungarians, Putin, Trump, Tucker Carlson, Viktor Orbán, Robert Fico, Pope Francis, and anyone who has doubts about Kyiv's leadership from abroad," the article says.

One of the outlets mentioned by Magyar Nemzet is European Pravda, which comes in for criticism for "anti-Hungarian articles", and even for spelling the names of hostile countries and politicians with small letters in social media comments.

Magyar Nemzet does have praise for Diana Panchenko, a "TV presenter who stands for peace" who has urged her counterparts working in Ukraine to temporarily leave the country if they want to work freely. Panchenko is a well-known pro-Russian propagandist who has worked for Putin crony Viktor Medvedchuk's TV channels NewsOne, 112 Ukraine, and ZIK.

It is worth noting that the article in this virtually state-owned newspaper was published the day before Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó is expected to visit Ukraine. It is hoped that the visit will help to improve Ukrainian-Hungarian relations.

Background: The Ukrainian and Hungarian foreign ministers will meet in Uzhhorod on 29 January to prepare for a meeting between Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

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