Hungary launches large-scale communications campaign against sanctions on Russia
Poster Brussels sanctions are destroying us (Photo:REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo)
Hungary has paid about $19.1 million for a propaganda campaign against the anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the West, the RTL.hu media outlet reported on Oct. 18.
RTL.hu referred to a policy document from the prime minister’s office, as well as numerous characteristic billboards and posters around the country.
It noted that the contract was signed in early July, but the document was released only on Oct. 13.
According to the media outlet, the New Land Media Reklam and Lounge Design Szolgaltato companies, which “regularly receive orders from Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government” won a competition to design the slogan and poster, as well as to place them on outdoor advertising boards.
The country’s Cabinet of Ministers expects advertisers to “perform tasks related to government communications in the international and domestic arena, affecting the future of Europe,” as well as “tasks related to government decisions that have a major impact on the lives of citizens.”
Last weekend, the Hungarian government’s Facebook page also changed its cover to the same poster with an image of an aerial bomb and the words “Sanctions from Brussels ruin us.”
Local journalists say that in recent months, the government has tried hard to blame EU sanctions on Russia for increases in energy prices, although the EU has not limited gas imports at all, and the measures taken against the import of crude oil have not yet come into force.
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