The Nezopont Institute has examined how 19 Hungarian-language media outlets—known to be at least partially funded from foreign sources—spread Ukrainian propaganda in their articles published in 2025. The institute identified 240 articles that had disseminated Ukrainian propaganda. A statistical analysis was conducted to provide a detailed picture of how foreign-funded outlets attempted to influence Hungarian public discourse in alignment with Ukrainian interests.
“George Soros and the organizations linked to him played an anti-government role in Hungary, particularly with regard to the funding scandal related to the 2022 national election campaign. This drew attention to the connection between foreign actors hostile to Hungary and a clearly identifiable group of domestic, government-critical media outlets that represent their views. The most direct evidence of this relationship is the foreign funding that sustains the activities of these media products,” the analysis states.
The report adds:
Recent domestic and international political events related to Ukraine—especially actions taken by the Ukrainian secret service against Hungary—have brought renewed focus to the activities of foreign-funded Hungarian media concerning Ukraine.
As a result, the Nezopont Institute conducted a content analysis of articles from domestic media that are at least partially funded from abroad, focusing on coverage of the Russia–Ukraine war and Ukraine’s EU accession. They evaluated the degree to which these articles could be considered biased in favor of Hungary’s eastern neighbor.
They also mention that the new transparency bill submitted this week will likely create a situation where it becomes clear whether a media outlet receives foreign funding. But based on currently available information, the following media outlets are confirmed to have received foreign funding:
Telex, Partizan, 444, HVG, Magyar Hang, Magyar Narancs, Klubradio, Atlatszo, Merce, Lakmusz, Ez a lenyeg, Nyugat, G7, Kecsup, Debreciner, Borsod24, Greenfo. Szabad Europa (Radio Free Europe) is directly funded by the U.S. government, while the Hungarian-language version of Euronews operates in Hungary as a foreign publisher.
The list of articles from these outlets found by the study to spread Ukrainian propaganda can be accessed HERE.
