Gazeta Lodz - Hungary pre-election showdown draws crowds amid foreign interference claims

Orban -- who faces an unprecedented challenge to his 16-year rule -- has sought to portray the opposition leader as a "puppet" of Brussels and Kyiv, while Magyar has accused the Moscow-friendly premier of seeking the Kremlin's help to stay in power ahead of the April 12 elections.

The nationalist leader in his speech Sunday urged Ukraine to stop "attacking" the central European country.

In a heated spat, he has accused Kyiv in past weeks of blocking a key pipeline transporting Russian oil through Ukraine to Hungary.

Magyar, in turn, accused Orban on Sunday of seeking to curb Hungary's freedom by "inviting Russian agents" to "interfere in the elections".

This follows reports by regional investigative outlet VSquare and the Financial Times of a covert Russian social media campaign to boost Orban and weaken the opposition.

Tens of thousands of people attended both rallies, according to AFP journalists on site.

- ' We will not be a Ukranian colony' -

Hungarians from around the country travelled to Orban's rally dubbed a "peace march" on the country's national day, many using buses rented by a group close to Orban's Fidesz party.

"There is unrest all over the world, and here in our little country we want to preserve peace, calm and security. And Viktor Orban ensures that for us," said Sandorne Pista, 60, who came from the southern university town of Pecs.

"We will not be a Ukrainian colony," read one of the banners carried ahead of the crowd, which later chanted "Viktor, Viktor" as the Hungarian premier took the stage in front of the parliament.

"Give us our oil, then roll your trucks over to the cash register in Brussels to collect money from the West, since they can't say no," Orban said in reference to the ongoing oil dispute with Kiyv.

Orban's party has been trailing in polls since last year, and he has recently centred his campaign on attacking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Tensions between Zelensky and Orban reached new heights last week, when Zelensky appeared to issue a direct threat against Orban and Hungary detained and then expelled a group of Ukrainian bank employees.

Orban told supporters that either he or the Ukrainian leader will form Hungary's next government.

Zelensky, whose country has been battling a Russian invasion since 2022, in a fresh statement Sunday accused Hungary's government of spreading "anti-Ukrainian sentiment".

"We are ready to work amicably (with any Hungarian leader), provided this person is not an ally of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin," he said.

- 'Russians go home' -

Opposition supporters marched behind horsemen dressed as hussars -- Hungary's historic light cavalry formation.

Many have dismissed the government accusations against Magyar's party.

"They're trying to divert attention away from the scandalous state of public affairs," Noemi Kiss, a 28-year-old communications manager, told AFP.

Amid recurring chants of "Russians go home," Magyar promised the crowd that his party would achieve a "victory so great" that "it will be visible... even from the Kremlin."

He also vowed that his government will bring an end to "hatred, division and fear" in public discourse.

Billboards against Zelensky have sprung up in recent weeks across Hungary, using images of the Ukrainian leader next to Magyar.

"Orban is doing everything he can to rev up the war psychosis that brought him a fourth supermajority in 2022" after Russia invaded Ukraine, Robert Laszlo, an election specialist at the think-tank Political Capital, told AFP.

C.Pawlowski--GL