As Hungary`s elections approach, Orbán has escalated an anti-Ukraine campaign and accused his rival, Péter Magyar, of entering into a pact with Kyiv to overthrow his government and install a pro-Western administration, writes Euronews.

"Hungary`s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán accused Ukraine on Monday of seeking to meddle in his country`s upcoming elections and ordered Kyiv`s ambassador to be summoned to the foreign ministry.

The step was the latest in Orbán’s long-running anti-Ukraine campaign as he seeks to convince voters that the neighbouring country, embroiled in a war with Russia, poses an existential threat to Hungary"s security and sovereignty. Orbán, who has maintained close ties with Russia since the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, faces what is expected to be the biggest challenge of his 16 years in power during elections scheduled for 12 April.

With his right-wing nationalist Fidesz party trailing by double digits in most polls, Orbán has campaigned on the unsubstantiated premise that Hungarians would be forcibly conscripted to fight and die on the front lines in Ukraine if his party loses the election.

In a video posted to social media on Monday, Orbán said Ukraine`s political leaders, and "even the president himself, made grossly offensive and threatening statements against Hungary and the Hungarian government".

Orbán did not specify which statements he was referring to: "Our national security services have evaluated this latest Ukrainian attack and determined that what happened is part of a coordinated series of Ukrainian measures to interfere in the Hungarian elections. I had instructed the foreign minister to summon Ukraine`s ambassador".