Did Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán say that Bulgarian politicians received a billion euros to get the country into a war with Russia? No, that's not true: Websites and social media platforms in Bulgaria are spreading this falsified speech attributed to Orbán without verifying its authenticity. Both CNN and Viktor Orbán's press office refuted any claims of him having issued such a statement.
This post appeared in a TikTok video (archived here) published on March 8, 2023, under the title, translated from Bulgarian into English by Lead Stories staff, "Breaking News! Orban stated: Bulgarian Politicians took a billion euros to bring our country into a war with Russia."
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Sat May 27 06:27:19 2023 UTC)
Numerous Bulgarian social media posts circulated the same narrative regarding an alleged "slanderous speech" by the Hungarian Prime Minister, falsely attributing it to a report from CNN. An example of such a claim appeared here (archived here) on April 23, 2023, in a collection of publications related to Viktor Orbán. It opened (as translated):
The defiant speech of the Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Opban against all Bulgarian politicians was quoted by CNN and will undoubtedly bring unpleasant consequences. Orban accused the former prime ministers and party leaders Boyĸo Borisov and Kiril Petkov of illegal deals with the EC.
"Yes, it is a crime. It's a crime, unknown and unapproved by their own people. We have documents showing that Borisov and Petkov received millions... let's say it straight - close to 1 billion euros to send troops to Ukraine. The money is paid to enter into a full conflict with Russia and to declare a war. It is clear that Bulgaria cannot scare either Russia or Putin, this would be ridiculous. The goal is different. It is to end the friendship between two countries which have been close for decades."
(Source: Screenshot taken on Sat May 27 10:14:13 2023 UTC+2)
Jonathan Hawkins, vice president of CNN International Communications, said in an email to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on March 15, 2023: "I can confirm that CNN has not published anything on this matter, it has not been posted on our platforms." The press office of the Hungarian Prime Minister responded in an email to AFP on March 14, 2023: "The quote attributed to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is not his personal statement. The content you refer to is indeed fake news."
Lead Stories has debunked a number of false claims about Victor Orban in the past.
