International Network Backing the Left to Propel Peter Magyar

In a piece published yesterday, the AP news agency portrayed Peter Magyar in a strikingly positive light. The article, containing information far removed from the ground of reality, was penned by Justin Spike. In response to an earlier inquiry form the Hungarian Mandiner news portal, Spike admitted that Eric Koch, an activist for Action for Democracy funded by George Soros, had bombarded him with emails in a bid to persuade him to cover public life in Hungary according to an anti-government narrative.

Peter Magyar (Photo: Zoltan Havran)

A rising challenger to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban mobilized tens of thousands of supporters in Hungary’s capital on Saturday, outlining a plan to unite the country and bring an end to Viktor Orban’s 14-year hold on power, Justin Spike wrote in the article published by AP.

The author of the remarkably positive article on Peter Magyar admitted having been pressured to cover Hungary with an anti-government edge. Photo: Zoltan Havran

The journalist writes at length, in a strikingly positive way, about Peter Magyar. Among other things, he says that Peter Magyar quit his well-paying jobs because he rebelled against the government, even though the Ministry for National Economy denied this in a statement months ago. The ministry pointed out that Peter Magyar's position was abolished, despite his threats. Since then, it has also emerged that Peter Magyar had been in employment negotiations with Lorinc Meszaros's company shortly before his interview with Partizan.

Justine Spike bombarded with emails

Although the professional and ethical integrity of many leading international media outlets has been called into question after it emerged that the Soros-funded Action for Democracy (A4D) had a strong influence on the work of their editorial staff, they apparently want to make no attempt to come clean. After Eric Koch, one of A4D's collaborating partners, made serious statements exposing the bias of the mainstream, liberal media in a video posted on X,  Mandiner reached out to a number of television stations, newspapers and news agencies, but received a response from only one.

Justin Spike, correspondent for the AP news agency, responded to the inquiry admitting that Eric Koch, an activist for the Soros-funded Action for Democracy, bombarded him with emails with the request to cover Hungary according to an anti-government narrative.

Although Koch disclosed in a recently surfaced video that he had tried to influence some 1,500 journalists, the dozens of international media outlets in question have not publicly responded to the revelations. Eric Koch made the most serious allegations about NBC News and CNN. Mentioning the political director for CNN, Koch said  "I was in David Chalian’s ear at CNN every other day" so that coverage on Hungary's public life would be thematized in a way A4D liked, and he also regularly pestered the president of NBC News for the same reason.

As is known, an intelligence report revealing the circumstances of foreign influence on the Hungarian parliamentary elections in 2022 found that more than four billion forints flowed into Hungary through Action for Democracy and a Swiss foundation, and that the money was used to support the election campaign of the opposition left-wing alliance made up of six parties. In light of this, one of Magyar's statements is particularly interesting. In an interview at the Spinoza House, he told journalist Katalin Rangos that he had not met US Ambassador David Pressman personally, but had been approached by intermediaries. He added that in his view, it is imperative to avoid making even the slightest impression that someone is trying to bring down the government with foreign help, although he believes that this is the only way to bring about regime change in Hungary.

Cover photo: Peter Magyar (Photo: Zoltan Havran)