EU manipulating polls in bid to oust Orban
– German opposition leader
The EU is desperately attempting to engineer “regime change” against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in next month’s parliamentary election, employing tactics such as poll manipulation and energy blackmail, German opposition leader Alice Weidel has claimed.
In a post on X on Wednesday, the co-chair of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party accused Brussels of using “their puppet,” Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar, in a bid to remove Orban.
“They want Orban gone, and they are willing to use any means to achieve it,” Weidel wrote, pointing to the ongoing “blockade of oil supplies” from Ukraine to Hungary through the Druzhba pipeline, and “manipulation of election polls.”
Weidel was responding to a recent survey by Hungarian pollster Median showing Magyar’s opposition Tisza Party with a 55% to 35% lead over Orban’s ruling Fidesz-KDNP alliance. Irish economist Philip Pilkington dismissed the figures as “really crazy polls,” comparing them to surveys in Georgia ahead of elections in 2024, which were followed by unrest.
Hungarian opposition pollsters have a track record of significant inaccuracies. In 2022, left-leaning polling firm Publicus was wide of the mark by 20 points, while Median itself underestimated Fidesz by 7 points in its final pre-election survey. Orban ultimately secured a 20-point victory.
Budapest and Brussels have been in an escalating standoff over Hungary’s continued opposition to EU policy on Ukraine and Russia. Budapest has repeatedly blocked or vetoed EU initiatives, including a recent €90 billion ($106 billion) emergency loan for Kiev and the bloc’s latest sanctions package against Moscow.
Orban has also vehemently opposed Ukraine joining the EU, arguing that Brussels’ support for Kiev draws the bloc closer to direct war with Russia and ignores Ukraine’s failure to meet requirements for candidates.
The Hungarian leader has described recent attempts to offer Kiev a form of ‘membership lite’ as “an open declaration of war against Hungary,” accusing Brussels of disregarding the will of the Hungarian people and being “determined to remove the Hungarian government by any means necessary.”
Orban has also accused Brussels of using “censorship, intervention, and manipulation” to undermine his government, framing the upcoming April 12 election as a choice between “war or peace.”
Right-leaning governments in Europe need to stand up against this political tyranny because once they get rid of Orban, they will be coming after you.
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Two congressional candidates disappear in Colombia
Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Two candidates for Colombia's Congress were reported missing this week, less than two weeks before the March 8 legislative elections for the Senate and House of Representatives.
Ana Libia Guetio, a House candidate for the Special Transitional Peace District in the department of Cauca, has been missing since the night of Feb. 25, the local newspaper El Espectador reported.
Her campaign team said they lost contact with her about 8:40 p.m. while she was traveling from the municipality of El Tambo to Morales after carrying out campaign activities.
"We have serious concern because the area where contact was lost poses high risks for social leaders," said Eduin Mauricio Capaz, human rights coordinator of the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca.
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The campaign team called for the immediate activation of search mechanisms and for guarantees of her safe return.
Guetio is competing for one of the special seats created in the House after the 2016 peace agreement, intended to represent territories affected by the armed conflict. Members serve four-year terms.
In a separate incident, Senate candidate Andrés Vásquez, of the Colombian Conservative Party, was reported missing Feb. 25 in the department of Cesar.
Vásquez was heading to a political meeting when his trail was lost. His vehicle was found with the doors open and his belongings inside.
The Conservative Party issued a statement demanding that authorities activate all search protocols and strengthen security guarantees for candidates during the campaign.
"We reject the kidnapping of candidate Andrés Vásquez and demand his prompt release alive," political leader Marcos Gómez said on X.
The candidate's father, Eustorgio Vásquez, told local media that the family had not received threats, and he called for his son's release.
"We have never been involved in any problems. My job is selling lottery tickets to have money to eat. If I had money, I would give it for my son, but that is not the case. Maybe they will realize whose son he is and release him." he said.
The Senate and the House of Representatives are elected on the same day in national elections. The Senate has 108 nationwide seats, while the House has 188, including the special peace districts.
The disappearance of both candidates occured amid recurring concerns about the security of social leaders and candidates in regions with the presence of illegal armed groups during the electoral period.
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