Balazs Orban, a political advisor to Prime Minister Viktor Orban (no relation), caused public outrage when he compared Ukraine’s invasion and Hungary's 1956 revolution crushed by the Soviets, suggesting that the Ukrainian decision to defend itself was irresponsible.

Orban is one of the most influential advisors to the prime minister and head of the government-funded cultural institute, MCC. He has played a key role in shaping much of Hungary’s foreign and domestic strategy, actively cultivating ties with segments of the Republican Party aligned with former President Donald Trump.

The 38-year-old spoke in a video podcast with pro-government weekly Mandiner. The interview was spotted by 444.hu, which broke the Clemency Gate in February.

When asked about the 1956 revolution and the lack of US military assistance, he said Hungary has learned from the anti-Soviet uprising that "precious Hungarian lives must be treated with ‘caution’ rather than ‘offering them up’ for defence."

"Based on 1956, we probably would not have done what President Zelenskiy did 2.5 years ago, because it is irresponsible, because one can see that he took his country into a war of defence. So many people have died, so much territory was lost," Orban said.

"I will say it is their sovereign decision to fight, but if they had asked us, we would not have recommended it, because of what happened in 1956."

The 1956 revolution is deeply ingrained in the memory of Hungarians as a struggle for freedom against the mighty Soviet Union. More than 3,000 people died during the 12 days of resistance and about 200,000 fled abroad after Soviet troops crushed the anti-Communist uprising on November 4. The leader of the interim government, Imre Nagy, and about 300 others were executed.

The prime minister, who began his career as a staunch liberal and anti-Communist, first made a name for himself with a bold speech at the reburial of Imre Nagy on June 16, 1989, where he called for the withdrawal of Soviet troops. While this speech shocked many Hungarians with its bravery, analysts suggest that there was already some form of preliminary agreement between Hungary's reformist Communist government and Soviet leadership on the matter.

Over the years, Viktor Orban has become one of Putin's closest allies within the EU, often breaking ranks with Brussels. Hungary has regularly sought exemptions from EU policies that targeted Russia, such as energy sanctions, and Orban's government has downplayed Russia's threats to European security.

While condemning Ukraine’s invasion and supporting EU-wide sanctions against Moscow, albeit reluctantly, Viktor Orban has remained one of the most pro-Russian voices within the EU. Instead of scaling back economic ties with Russia, especially in the field of energy, Budapest has done exactly the opposite, and the country’s energy dependence has increased.

Since declaring Hungary an illiberal democracy in 2015 and his constant rhetoric against the West and the EU, Viktor Orban has turned his conservative stance to being staunchly pro-Russian. Polls showed that Hungarians' view of Ukrainians and their president was very unfavourable before the war, and Hungary’s nationalist leader ruthlessly exploited this sentiment in the 2022 election campaign, which granted the ruling party its fourth consecutive supermajority.

Budapest's growing economic and political ties with Moscow have also led Orban to tone down his once fierce anti-Communist rhetoric surrounding the 1956 revolution.

Just nine months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and days ahead of the October 23 commemorations in 2022, the Hungarian PM puzzled everyone by saying that Hungarians fought to achieve a peace negotiation with the Russians. His comments raised eyebrows for being unhistorical, but they did not cause a backlash similar to this case, according to some observers.

Later that day, to control the damage, Balazs Orban released a video claiming that his words had been misinterpreted by "war party" forces, which only intensified the backlash against him.

His comments unleashed fury on social media, and opposition politicians demanded his resignation.

"The Prime Minister's political director has no place in Hungarian public life after his scandalous and treasonous remarks today," wrote opposition leader Peter Magyar, who made his first appearance on state media MTVA on September 26 after he convened a demonstration in front of its HQ for October 5.

Magyar gave little time for questions and told the audience that MTVA serves as a mouthpiece of the government, which is used to slander the opposition and suppress news. He went on to detail the economic and social crises Hungary faces.

Ironically, last week state news media offered Magyar air time with Balazs Orban in a political talk show, but the opposition leader rejected the offer.

Magyar said Balazs Orban humiliated the memory of the thousands of Hungarian freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for freedom.

According to one of the politicians from the Two-Tailed Dog Party, the political strategist has ruined his reputation in a single day. Instead of upholding the idea of sovereignty, he openly declared that in the event of a Russian military intervention, Hungary would likely have surrendered.

This is also a moral collapse for Viktor Orban, who started his political career with a speech at the reburial of the heroes of 1956, only to become Putin’s lapdog.

Political analyst Gabor Torok called the scandal "the biggest political mistake of the year" and suggested that the politician could be withdrawn from public life. His interpretation of history goes against what Fidesz has explicitly embraced and appropriated in recent decades.

Balazs Orban’s comments have made headlines in international media as well as all major news agencies AFP, Reuters, and Bloomberg covered the story.

In the view of bne Intellinews, the backlash against Balazs Orban wasn’t primarily due to his criticism of Ukraine’s decision to defend itself, as a significant portion of the population still aligns with Viktor Orban’s propaganda, which partly blames Kyiv for the conflict. The real spark was his comparison to 1956, suggesting that the resistance of Hungary's freedom fighters was ultimately not worth it.