The United States Embassy in Budapest is running negative ads against Hungary’s energy policy, as multiple major Hungarian news outlets noticed. The advertisement is a series of still images, with captions superimposed on them, while dramatic music plays in the background. The video comes with a text post, which claims:
‘While Hungary’s neighbours decrease their dependence on Russia, Hungary does the reverse. While Hungary remains the only EU country 100 per cent reliant on Putin’s Russia for nuclear fuel, the United States enacts a law to end all Russian uranium imports. Hungary’s dependence on Putin is a choice—and a dangerous one.’
Apart from the fact that the claims are the regurgitation of the disingenuous and manipulative half-truths
that we have heard ad nauseam, it is quite unusual for a foreign embassy to begin with to run a negative ad campaign against the government of its host country, which happens to be a NATO ally. However, the US Embassy in Budapest has engaged in such odd conduct before.
In April 2023, they partially funded a billboard campaign, organized by the Hungarian online media company Nyugati Pályán (On the Western Course). Those ads were trying to drum up public sentiment against Russia among Hungarians amidst the Russo-Ukrainian war. However, the campaign was short-lived, and it did very little to move public opinion.
Now, Ambassador Pressman’s embassy is trying to achieve better results in the digital sphere.
Previously, members of the Orbán administration have called out the hypocrisy multiple times in that while the US government is advocating for sanctions and isolation against Russia, they had actually increased the import of enriched uranium from the Eastern European country since the invasion of Ukraine took place. However, that point may no longer stand, as the ad points out. President Joe Biden signed a ban on Russian uranium imports into law in May 2024. The largest exporter of uranium into the United States is now Canada, according to the US Energy Information Administration—that would not be a logistically advantageous alternative for Hungary.
According to Meta’s ad library, the US Embassy has spent about 500,000 HUF ($1,400) promoting the ad on Facebook—which is not a major investment. They are also running another ad, this one being of a more positive tone, celebrating the 25th anniversary of Hungary joining the NATO alliance.
US–Hungary relations have been less than smooth under Ambassador Pressman,
with the American chief of mission being a vocal critic of the Orbán administration policies, foreign or even domestic. PM Orbán, on the other side of the coin, has been very vocal about his preference in the 2024 US presidential election. He has been a major advocate of Former President Donald Trump, the challenger to the incumbent Democratic administration, which Ambassador Pressman is part of.
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