Latest news with #elections
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Orbán's anti-Ukraine campaign targets political rival as Hungary's elections loom
BUDAPEST, Hungary — As Hungary heads toward national elections next spring and the populist government's popularity slumps, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has zeroed in on a central theme he hopes will sway voters: an alleged threat posed by neighboring Ukraine. While most European Union countries have offered political, financial, and military support to Kyiv since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, Hungary under Orbán has charted a starkly different course — refusing to supply Ukraine with weapons or allow their transit through Hungarian territory, demanding sanctions relief and rapprochement with Russia, and adopting a combative stance toward both Kyiv and its EU backers. With his ruling Fidesz party slipping in the polls and a new opposition force gaining momentum, Orbán has escalated a sweeping anti-Ukraine campaign — presenting the upcoming election as a referendum on peace or war. Going further, he has accused his leading political opponent of entering into a treasonous pact with Kyiv to overthrow his government and install a pro-Western, pro-Ukraine administration. Some of his ideas mirror the growing anti-Ukraine messaging coming from right-wing populists in the West, including from President Donald Trump. 'Let's be under no illusions: Brussels and Ukraine are jointly building up a puppet government (in Hungary),' Orbán said on June 6 in comments to state radio. 'They want to change Hungary's policy toward Ukraine after the next elections, or even sooner.' At the heart of Orbán's claims is Ukraine's ambition to join the EU, something Kyiv believes would place it firmly within the embrace of the West and provide a measure of security against potential Russian attacks in the future. While Orbán was a firm supporter of Ukraine's eventual EU accession shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, he now argues that its membership — which will likely take many years — would flood Hungary with crime, cheap labor, and low-quality agricultural products, threatening national sovereignty and economic stability. He has also spuriously claimed that Brussels and Kyiv intend to force Hungarians to fight Russia on the front lines. On Monday, Orbán posted a video to his social media page depicting animated, artificial intelligence-generated scenes of bloodied, machine-gun wielding Hungarian soldiers engaged in armed conflict, and rows of caskets lined beneath Hungarian flags. 'We don't want our children, in the form of the Hungarian army, to be deployed to the Ukrainian front lines or to Ukrainian territory and to come back in coffins,' he said in the video. Central to Orbán's life-or-death narrative of the Hungarian election is his growing campaign against his main political rival, Péter Magyar, a former Fidesz insider whose new Tisza party has surged in popularity. Once married to Hungary's former justice minister, Magyar has become the most formidable challenger to Orbán's rule since the EU's longest-serving leader took office in 2010. With Tisza leading Fidesz in most independent polls, some analysts and domestic critics believe Orbán may be laying the groundwork to discredit or even disqualify Magyar ahead of the 2026 election. Péter Krekó, director of the Budapest-based Political Capital think tank, said Orbán's attempt to link Magyar and Tisza to the image of a dangerous Ukraine is aimed at neutralizing his domestic opposition as popular sentiment appears to be turning against him. 'There is an ongoing campaign against any critical voices in Hungary saying that they are agents of Ukraine, and this can be used also against the Tisza party,' he told The Associated Press. 'If you can't win back public opinion anymore, then you can try to use a more authoritarian toolkit.' Beyond political rhetoric, such accusations have reached the highest levels of diplomacy. In May, Ukraine's main security agency said that it had arrested two people on suspicion of spying for Hungary by gathering intelligence on Ukraine's military defenses in the west of the country. That set off a tit-for-tat series of diplomatic expulsions, and accusations from Hungary's government that the affair was part of a concerted Ukrainian campaign involving Magyar and his party to undermine Orbán. The prime minister accused Magyar and Tisza of being 'pro-Ukrainian' and supporting Ukraine's EU bid, and alleging that a prominent Tisza member, the former chief of staff of the Hungarian military, has 'deep ties with Ukrainian intelligence.' No evidence has been provided to support the claims, which Magyar has dismissed outright. 'It is outrageous and blood-boiling when a patriot who trained and prepared to be a soldier since the age of 14 and who took a military oath ... is accused of treason by people who would sell their country out,' Magyar told a news conference on June 5. To reinforce its message, the Hungarian government launched a state-funded communication blitz in March, accompanied by a non-binding 'national consultation' on Ukraine's EU membership. Billboards, television ads, and social media posts have flooded the country, portraying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as the architects of a plot to undermine, or even destroy Hungary. 'They would bring Ukraine into the EU, but we would pay the price!' reads one poster. 'Let's vote no!' Ukrainian officials have been restrained in reacting to the Hungarian campaign. But in an interview published last week in Hungarian outlet Válasz Online, Zelenskyy criticized the government's use of his face as part of its media barrage, and accused Orbán of being 'anti-Ukrainian and anti-European.' 'He is using this in his domestic policy: he wants to turn the war in Ukraine to his own advantage in the elections. That is dishonest,' Zelenskyy said. In a post on X on Tuesday, Ukraine's foreign ministry also pushed back on Hungary's accusations. 'The Hungarian government's communication line, which demonizes Ukraine and President Zelenskyy, has gone off the rails,' the ministry's spokesman, Heorhii Tykhyi, wrote. 'We don't see Hungary demanding that Russia accept a ceasefire ... They remain silent when principled action is needed and make baseless accusations when diplomacy is required.'
BBC News
2 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Guernsey Election 2025: Top five in the polls on next States term
Candidates who topped the polls said they felt the next States would work well Lindsay de Sausmarez, who came out on top with support from more than half of those who voted, said she was "stunned" by the Yvonne Burford, who came second in the polls, said it was hard to know how well she was doing while she was out five candidate Paul Montague said it was an "incredibly long interview process". De Saumerez received 10,721 votes and said she was pleased many candidates had focused on housing in their manifestos."I'm really hoping that there will something where we can keep the momentum going and really build on the progress that we have managed to achieve in the last couple of years," she said. When asked Burford said she was confident the issue of States finances would be sorted before the next election."A really strong theme in the election is about working together and it was a lot of deputies promised to do and I think we have a really good sprit going forward," she Parkinson, who came third, said he would be going for the top job of Policy and Resources president."My ambition was to finish in the top five and I'm there so obviously the public have confidence in me and I'll try not to disappoint them." Mr Montague, the only non-current States member who came in the top 10, said he would be throwing his hat in the ring for the Committee for Education, Sport and Culture."[It's] absolutely the right place for me, it's the right fit," he Montague also suggested he would want to sit on the Committee for Health and Social Care."A lot of my concerns are to do with particularly physical and mental health of young people," he said."Particularly physical health in terms of preventative medicine to make sure that we can after ourselves in future. But also mental health, I've seen some real problems with youngsters in education." Deputy Steve Falla, who came fourth, said he was "very grateful" the public put their trust in him."There is a lot of work to do but I'm really up for it and I'm really ready for it," he said."I'm very pro business. I will be putting myself forward for the president of Economic Development and it will down to the assembly if they favour me with that job."
Washington Post
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Lawyer who once defended drug kingpin 'El Chapo' questions critics of her judicial victory
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Of the roughly 2,600 judges elected for the first time by Mexicans earlier this month, Silvia Delgado García received more attention than almost any other because she once helped represent drug kingpin Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán. That single client in a nearly two decade career as a criminal defense attorney in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, made Delgado standout in the historic June 1 election, name recognition that may have helped her victory formally certified Thursday.
The Independent
6 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Lawyer who once defended drug kingpin 'El Chapo' questions critics of her judicial victory
Of the roughly 2,600 judges elected for the first time by Mexicans earlier this month, Silvia Delgado García received more attention than almost any other because she once helped represent drug kingpin Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán. That single client in a nearly two decade career as a criminal defense attorney in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, made Delgado standout in the historic June 1 election, name recognition that may have helped her victory formally certified Thursday. Delgado won a spot as a criminal court judge in Ciudad Juarez in the June 1 election. At Thursday's ceremony, Delgado smiled, got emotional and received hugs. Speaking to reporters later, she said it was time for her defense work to stop being described as a 'tie' to the drug lord. She was just doing her job, she said. 'The only thing that we do is a job,' she said. 'The decision to enter in this electoral process was very simple: I wanted to strengthen my career helping the community. I've helped so many here, helping defend.' In 2016, Delgado García was a member of Sinaloa cartel leader Guzmán's legal team when he was temporarily held in a prison in Ciudad Juarez before being extradited to the United States. He was eventually tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison in the U.S. Some critics of electing judges, and a human rights litigation group called Defensorxs, had labeled Delgado García 'high risk' before the vote, because 'she defends alleged drug traffickers.' Hailed as a way to make corrupt judges accountable to the people and clean up Mexico's judiciary by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the historic elections that covered more than 2,600 positions ranging up to the country's Supreme Court, drew only a paltry 13% voter participation. Critics feared it would politicize the judiciary and offer organized crime an easier path to influencing judicial decisions. Mexico's governing Morena party was poised to gain control of the Supreme Court as a majority of the winners had strong ties to the party or were aligned ideologically. On Thursday, Delgado noted that she had been called out for petitioning the court that Guzmán be given a blanket in prison. 'Is it bad that if a person is not accustomed to the cold that he have a blanket?' she asked. 'I have been in the eye of the hurricane for that reason.'
Fox News
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Carville says Dems 'betrayed' working-class voters by not including them in 'too-cool-for-school' coalition
Veteran Democratic Party strategist James Carville warned on Thursday that Democrats need to acknowledge how they took part in the decades-long betrayal of White, working-class voters. Since the Democratic Party's historic loss in November, many have been trying to chart a path forward to reclaiming their coalition. While some have doubled-down on controversial far-left identity politics, some have worked to reclaim working-class men they alienated in recent years, particularly White men. On the Politics War Room podcast, hosts Carville and Al Hunt addressed a comment from a listener, who suggested that rather than being reconciliation, MAGA supporters deserve to be "beaten badly at the voting booth and then told just to suck it up." "Oh God, who doesn't have that instinct?" Carville responded, but nonetheless warned that politics comes down to winning elections, and that means persuading voters. "It is not the most satisfying way, but what in the end are we trying to do? We're trying to do one thing, win elections." He proceeded to warn against the "temptation that says 'I can't believe how godd--n stupid you were." While he said he has no temptation for the "corporate a—wipes" who voted for Trump to become richer, the strategist nicknamed the Ragin' Cajun expressed some sympathy for working-class Whites he says have been betrayed by both parties. "I have an iota of sympathy for somebody whose life hadn't turned out right," he said. "The brilliant thing about MAGA is it gives you an explanation other than yourself of why your life didn't turn out the way you wanted it, and we should say to these people 'We kind of understand what you were trying to say but you were betrayed.'" "Let's also face it, Democrats acted like these people didn't exist alright? They just did, and don't come back and say-We acted like working-class, particularly working-class non-college Whites were not part of our too-cool-for-school group," he continued. "There were some real high-end people that kind of bought in to that s---." He returned to the listener's question and reasserted his point that it's better to reconcile with working-class White voters, even if he understands being frustrated with them. "I can see it, but the best thing to do is not punch him in the mouth but to say, 'You know man I could hear where you're coming from you just got betrayed, and we betrayed you somewhat, and we now have learned our lesson,'" he said.
