Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Saturday that the European Union (EU) poses a greater threat to Hungary than Russia, accusing Brussels of seeking to undermine his government by supporting the opposition.

Orban, who has been prime minister since 2010, is facing his biggest domestic challenge in years, as his nationalist Fidesz party has been behind the conservative Tisza party in most polls leading up to April elections.

Brussels a 'source of imminent danger' — Orban

Orban, who had long been critical of European military aid to Ukraine amid Russia's invasion, took aim at the EU in a speech to supporters.

"We must get used to the idea that those who love freedom should not fear the East, but Brussels," the prime minister said.

"Fear-mongering about Putin is primitive and unserious. Brussels, however, is a palpable reality and a source of imminent danger," he said.

"This is the bitter truth, and we will not tolerate it," Orban said.

What did Orban say about the EU and the Hungarian opposition?

On Saturday, Orban also accused the EU of propping up his main challenger, Tisza party leader Peter Magyar.

"We already knew that our real opponents are not the Hungarian opposition parties. Our real opponents are their masters in Brussels," he said.

Orban claimed that the rise of Magyar's opposition Tisza party was orchestrated by German lawmaker Manfred Weber, who heads the conservative faction in the European Parliament (EPP), and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

"It is crystal clear that in Hungary the oil business, the banking world and the Brussels elite are preparing to form a government," he said. "They need someone in Hungary who will never say no to Brussels' demands."

"The Germans know they need a Hungarian party," he said.

Magyar was a former member of Fidesz who broke from the party in February 2024 after public outcry over a presidential pardon for a man convicted of covering up cases of child sex abuse. He then took over the at the time little-known Tisza party, catapulting it into becoming Hungary's main opposition party.

Tisza has pledged to end what it describes as Hungary's "seesaw" foreign policy and align Budapest firmly with the West.

Orban vows to remove 'foreign influence' on civil society

Orban also vowed to target Hungarian civil society if he won re-election in April, describing it as being made up of "pseudo-civil organisations, bought journalists, judges, politicians."

"The Brussels repressive machine is still operating in Hungary. We'll clean it up after April," he said.

He praised US President Donald Trump, saying that he "rebelled against the liberals' global-scale business, media and political network, thereby improving our chances as well."

"We too can take seven-league strides and push out of Hungary the foreign influence that limits our sovereignty, together with its agents," Orban said.

Orban is a longtime Trump ally and has supported his push for negotiations with Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

In November 2025, Washington said it had granted Hungary a one-year exemption from secondary sanctions on Russian energy.

Edited by: Louis Oelofse