Election campaign in Hungary

Vienna grain market on fire on Orban party flyer

The logo of TU Wien can still be seen at the top left.

(Bild: facebook.com/Nemény András)

The grain market in Vienna devastated and burning, the local TU building blazing in flames - flyers with this image were distributed by Hungary's ruling party Fidesz in the Hungarian city of Szombathely ahead of the local elections. The message: if people don't vote for Fidesz, war is imminent.

The flyer came to the attention of the local community newspaper "Savaria Fórum". According to their research, it is a stock photo of the grain market from 2013 from the photo platform Pixabay. It had been edited to give the impression of a war zone - a desperate old woman had been added in the foreground. However, the logo of the Technical University (TU) is still clearly visible.

The TU Vienna logo can still be seen at the top left.

(Bild: facebook.com/Nemény András)

Ad against the party
The flyer is also intended to brand the mayor András Nemény, who is supported by the opposition, as a "man of war". Nemény can be seen at the top of the flyer shaking hands with former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány - Orbán's long-time favorite enemy. The text underneath reads: "Gyurcsány is a man of war. Nemény is Gyurcsány's man. Whoever votes for him, votes for war!" A non-party member of the Szombathely city parliament filed a complaint against the local Fidesz leadership because of the flyer, reported the news portal hvg.hu.

In Hungary, not only the European but also the local elections will take place on Sunday. Fidesz, the right-wing nationalist governing party of head of government Viktor Orban, claims in the election campaign that a vote for them is the only guarantee that Hungary will not be "dragged into a war". At a large demonstration at the weekend, the head of government recently issued an urgent warning about the horrors of war.

Orban promotes peace
Posters depicting leading opposition politicians within the black lettering "war" were also put up across the country. Another poster shows Orban within the blue lettering "Peace", with the addition: "We need it more than ever." However, Fidesz leaves open whether the campaign is referring to the war in Ukraine or another war.

SPÖ attacks FPÖ
Klaus Seltenheim, Federal Secretary of the SPÖ, was appalled by the Fidesz campaign and used the opportunity to attack the Freedom Party, which sympathizes with Orbán: "The FPÖ worships Orbán, someone who advertises with a burning Vienna", the party is therefore a "disgrace for Austria", Seltenheim said in a press release. "How wrong do you have to be for the FPÖ to have someone like that as a role model? Orbán cannot be a role model - he is a destroyer and an enemy of democracy," he emphasized.

He also asked where the "outcry" from Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) would come from if the federal capital had to be used for a vile campaign.

"Populist insecurity"
Olga Voglauer, Secretary General of the Greens, also sharply criticized the Fidesz campaign on X: "Fidesz is advertising with the burning grain market in Vienna. This is populist insecurity and therefore the business of Russian propaganda. And the FPÖ? They want to make the leader of this party President of the Commission."