Far-right Romanian presidential candidate uses Orbán’s speech to court ethnic Hungarian voters

Romanian presidential candidate George Simion, who gained notoriariry for his attacks against the country’s Hungarian minority, is now hoping to pick up some of the ethnic Hungarian vote, after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed support for his “pro-Christian and anti-globalist” agenda. Simion is now promoting Orbán’s speech in social media ads targeted at counties with significant Hungarian populations. Meanwhile, the Hungarian minority’s party is trying desperately to boost the campaign of Simion’s opponent, Nicușor Dan.

“Thank you, @Viktor Orban. Romania and Hungary together against the globalists who now rule,” reads the message in Romanian, attached to a video circulated on Facebook and Instagram by George Simion, presidential candidate of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (Alianța pentru Unirea Românilor, AUR). The video features a snippet of Orbán Viktor’s speech from May 9 in Tihany. It is being promoted as a paid advertisement and has so far been viewed by about 350,000 people, the majority of whom are in counties with large Hungarian populations: Harghita, Mureș, Satu Mare, and Covasna.

In his controversial speech, Orbán struck an oddly conciliatory tone when speaking about Simion, who has been known for anti-Hungarian behaviour in the past – up to vandalizing a Hungarian cemetery in Valea Uzului. Despite the Romanian candidate’s history, Orbán said:

“Yesterday, in the Romanian presidential candidates’ debate, Hungary was mentioned in connection with Christianity. One of the candidates, Mr. Simion, said the following — I quote: ‘Now is the time for the Europe of nations, the Christian Europe, in which we will fight for our right to be European citizens.’ This was not said in Hungary, but in neighboring Romania. We fully agree. We share a historical community of fate with the Romanians. We do not interfere in the ongoing Romanian presidential race, but from here, from the symbolic heart of the Carpathian Basin, we send this message to the people of Romania and their future president: we stand on the ground of cooperation and unity, and we will not support any kind of isolation or political retaliation against Romania or its leaders.”

Perhaps Hungary’s great defender hates globalists enough to gloss over Simion’s past anti-Hungarian actions. Perhaps Orbán, like the social media influencers who want to sell their newest gym fits or moisturizers, just got overexcited when he was mentioned. Either way, Romania’s democratic institutions will rest easily tonight knowing that they have Hungary’s support.

Sovereignist or anti-Hungarian?

Simion came in first place in the first round of the presidential election. In the second round, he will face off against Nicușor Dan, the center-right candidate of the Save Romania Union (Uniunea Salvați România, USR).

It is at this point where the ‘enemy of my enemy’ cliché breaks down – the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), the largest Hungarian party in Romania, has actively campaigned against Simion from the start and stood for Dan.

“George Simion is not a sovereigntist,” said UDMR president Hunor Kelemen in a video message. “He is an illusionist. He is not a Christian, he is a charlatan. George Simion, in every nerve and every fibre of his being, represents the belief that Hungarians have no place in Romania,”

Perhaps that memo was lost before it reached Orbán. Perhaps it did reach Orbán, but the Prime Minister decided he knew better.

Since the speech, Hungary’s ruling party has been forced to explain itself. Some of Orbán’s allies claimed that the government agrees with UDMR’ position, but emphasized that they consider the presidential election a Romanian domestic affair and do not wish to intervene. They also stated they would cooperate with Simion if he is elected.

UDMR is a longtime Fidesz ally, and the supporting the ethnic Hungarian communities is a staple of Fidesz’s agenda. After 2010 Orbán introduced a simplified process allowing ethnic Hungarians to easily gain dual citizenship, which was formerly shut down by the previous socialist-liberal coalition with a 2004 referendum. The denial of dual citizenship is still a sore spot for ethnic Hungarians, who in the last few elections overwhelmingly voted for Fidesz – but support for the far-right candidate is seen by many an insult similar to the 2004 referendum.

Flowers, chocolates, nationalism – wooing the Hungarian voters

As Simion tries to sway the ethnically Hungarian voters in Transylvania – or discourage them from voting against him at least – he been trying to help voters forget his past anti-Hungarian behaviour. Orbán’s Tihany speech has come in handy – according to Meta’s Ad Library, 97 percent of views of the campaign ad came from four the four Romanian counties (Harghita: 33%, Mureș: 23:%, Satu Mare: 23%, Covasna: 18%) with the highest proportion of ethnic Hungarians.

Viewership data of Simion’s Orbán ad from the Meta Ad Library

Data that Meta has to publish due to EU transparency policies  reveals that

the paid advertisement was specifically targeted at regions with significant Hungarian population.

When someone places an ad on Facebook and/or Instagram, they can choose which countries or regions the ad should target. As a result, the ad only appears to users who log in with an IP address located in the specified area – which is how Simion’s video is being promoted in the Hungarian-majority counties.

Viewership data of Simion’s Orbán ad from the Meta Ad Library

The ad library shows four additional ads published by other AUR representatives, all funded by the party, which show Simion voicing opinions in agreement with Viktor Orbán. Marius Lulea, the party’s Vice President, promoted the video with the following caption:

“George Simion will be the president of all Romanians, both in Romania and abroad, regardless of ethnic or religious affiliation. A leader who is supported and respected by none other than Viktor Orbán, among others.”

The Romanian posts walk a fine line to court Hungarian voters without abandoning AUR’s nationalist stance. Language, for one, has been a critical battleground – the Romanian language, according to the party’s platform, is a “duty stemming from the citizenship status” for ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania.

AUR advertisements referring to Orbán in the Meta Ad Library

Hungarian voter turnout could be decisive

AUR’s four ads were viewed most in Harghita, followed by Mureș and Covasna. Ads were also disseminated in Bihor, Sălaj, and Cluj counties, where ethnic Hungarians make up between 15 and 22 percent of the population.

So far, AUR has spent the equivalent of about 530,000 forints (roughly €1,350, or $1,450) on ads targeting Hungarian voters — but since the ads are still active, that sum will only increase. Altogether, the UDMRhas spent even more on ads in Székely Land than AUR: in the past week alone, the RMDSZ spent around 930,000 forints (~€2,400 or ~$2,500) on its smaller-scale campaigns. The difference is surprisingly small, considering the UDMR’s base is limited to ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania, while AUR is a nationalist party now trying to appeal to the Hungarian minority.

According to Meta’s database, AUR’s five campaign videos have reached about 825,000 viewers, most of them in Hungarian-majority counties.

In the first round of the Romanian presidential election, turnout in Hungarian-populated counties was well below the national average — particularly in Covasna, where Hungarians make up the majority. In those counties, Crin Antonescu, the candidate of the Social Democrat–Liberal governing coalition (and supported by the UDMR in the first round), received the most votes. However, he failed to make it to the second round, as he received fewer votes nationwide than Dan.

Because of the low turnout, Nicușor Dan may have untapped potential among Hungarian voters in a close second round. The outcome could depend on them — which explains why Simion is campaigning so directly in these areas.

Dan campaigns in Hungarian; UDMR urges a vote against Simion

According to Meta’s Ad Library, Simion isn’t the only one targeting Romanian Hungarians: his opponent, Nicușor Dan, began running an ad on May 12 featuring a video in which Hunor Kelemen encourages support for Dan. The ad is also aimed at Hungarian-populated regions and includes the following Hungarian-language message: “Vote for Nicușor Dan! A strong Hungarian vote is the answer to anti-Hungarian sentiment. #STOPSimion!”

Dan’s video is being promoted with a significantly higher budget than Simion’s individual posts — roughly 400,000 forints (about €1,030 or $1,100). Yet, it has been viewed far less — only around 150,000 times so far, compared to the reach of Simion’s Orbán video.

Last year, we reported that far-right parties across Europe were generating unusually high reach on TikTok with their campaign videos ahead of the European Parliament elections. This doesn’t necessarily reflect genuine popularity — algorithmic manipulation by the Chinese-owned platform may also have played a role.

Facebook operates with more transparency than TikTok – just – and gives users more control, but the opaque algorithms still have significant influence over content distribution. Since the Trump election, big tech has courted the far-right in the U.S. and internationally, with Mark Zuckerberg at the helm – politically biased algorithms would shock few.

UDMR is campaigning intensively against Simion, emphasizing the AUR politician’s anti-Hungarian rhetoric.

Kelemen Hunor and the party have published several paid ads targeting the Hungarian-majority counties, but individually these posts have not reached as many people as the Romanian politicians’ posts — including Simion’s. The two most viewed UDMR ads (Kelemen Hunor’s message after the first round of the election) were seen by around 300,000 people, although these were promoted with a smaller budget than Simion’s video.