In today's #vatnik soup I'll introduce a politician who loves EU money but also 🇷🇺 energy.His name
is Viktor Orbán and he's been 🇭🇺's PM since 2010.Orbán is the ultimate opportunist,begging for gas from Russia & at the same time hoarding all the money he can get from the EU. 1/11
Because of his limitations on press freedom, judicial system, and multiparty democracy, and attacks against immigrants and marginal groups, Hungary's democracy has been described as being in deep decline. 2/11
Due to this 🇭🇺dropped 11 places in the EIU's Democracy Index and Freedom House downgraded their rating from "Free" to "Partly free". The Economist went as far as calling Orbán's Hungary an "authoritarian kleptocracy". 3/11
Orbán has been in the politics for a long time,and he's been part of his current party, Fidesz, since 1993.His authoritarian position was cemented in 2010, when Fidesz won 53% of the popular vote and gained 2/3 majority of seats, allowing Orbán to make constitutional changes.4/11
And of course Viktor seized this opportunity: In 2011, he added support for traditional values and nationalism to the constitution, and also made it easier for him and Fidesz to stay on the throne by reducing total parliamentary seats by 187. 5/11
In 2020, at the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hungarian parliament passed legislation that allows them to create states of emergency without time limits, postpone by-elections, and provide the PM the ability to rule by decree. 6/11
They also introduced prison sentences for spreading of fake news (we all know who decides what is fake and what's not). By doing all this, they are following the authoritarian 101 rulebook. 7/11
Orbán has also seized control of several universities & funneled money into their favorite university, Mathias Corvinus Collegium, that'll raise more "future conservative intellectuals". A total of 1% of Hungary's GDP was spent on this little brainwashing program. 8/11
Orbán's policies are anti-immigration, anti-Islam, anti-LGBT, Euroskepticist and conservatist. Political Capital Institute's director, Péter Krekó has stated that many of Orbáns views were inspired by Putin. 9/11
Orbán's policies are anti-immigration, anti-Islam, anti-LGBT, Euroskepticist and conservatist. Political Capital Institute's director, Péter Krekó has stated that many of Orbán's views were inspired by Putin. 🇭🇺threatened to veto the EU's 6th sanction package on Russia...10/11
...just to have KGB agent Patriarch Kirill removed from the sanction list:
In addition to Turkey's Erdoğan, Orbán has been stalling Finland's and Sweden's NATO membership - these two are the last countries that haven't ratified the contract.
11/11
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the agenda-setting and flood of disinformation that spread on X and other platforms right after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. It’s far from the first or last time a tragedy has been weaponized for political purposes.
1/18
Every major political event, especially those involving violence, attracts massive attention. In the immediate aftermath, reliable information is scarce, making it highly vulnerable to both coordinated and improvised disinformation campaigns.
2/18
As I’ve mentioned in my previous soups and lectures, in disinformation campaigns, being first with a narrative is crucial, as people often remember the first version best — psychology studies show it sets the mental schema, and later updates rarely overwrite it.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce American social media personality David Freeman, AKA Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman). He’s best known for spreading political disinformation on X and shamelessly sucking up to Trump, Putin, and other authoritarian leaders.
1/22
David is a textbook example of someone profiting from MAGA grievance politics. He uses extreme, provocative language to farm engagement on X and never hesitates to flatter anyone who might give him more exposure — or money.
2/22
But David wasn’t always like this. At some point, in his mid-40s, he even tried a real job: he trained to become a cop. He spent three years with the Metro Transit PD, but after that he either got fired or quit, and never looked back.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian-Estonian businessman, Oleg Ossinovski. He is best-known for his deep ties to Russian rail and energy networks, shady cross-border dealings, and for channeling his wealth into Estonian politics.
1/14
Oleg made his fortune via Spacecom Trans & Skinest Rail, both deeply tied to Russia’s rail system. Most of this is through Globaltrans Investments PLC, a Cyprus-based firm with 62% held via Spacecom and tens of millions in yearly profits.
2/14
Ossinovski’s Russian-linked ventures made him Estonia’s richest man in 2014, with an estimated fortune of ~€300M. His business empire stretched across railways, oil via Alexela shares, and Russian bitumen imports from Help-Oil, a supplier to the Defense Ministry.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Swiss/French writer, Alain Bonnet, aka Alain Soral (@officielsoral). He’s best known for his rabid antisemitism and for his pathetic support for all the worst authoritarian regimes from Russia to North Korea.
1/22
Alain’s childhood was problematic, as his father has been characterized as a “narcissistic pervert” who beat his children and did jail time for fraud. Alain himself has said he was “programmed to be a monster.” Born Alain Bonnet, he took the stage name of his sister,…
2/22
… actress Agnès Soral. She wasn’t too happy about this, commenting “How would you like to be called Agnès Hitler?”. Like many grifters, he became a pick-up/seduction artist writer, à la late Gonzalo Lira, writing books and even making a B-movie, “Confessions d’un dragueur”.
3/22
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explain the Alaska Fiasco and how it marks the peak of Trump’s two-year betrayal of Ukraine. What was sold as “peace talks” turned into a spectacle of weakness, humiliation, empty promises, and photo-ops that handed Putin exactly what he wanted.
1/24
Let’s start with the obvious: Trump desperately wants the gold medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, mainly because Obama got one. That’s why he’s now LARPing as a “peace maker” in every conflict: Israel-Gaza, Azerbaijan-Armenia, India-Pakistan, and of course Ukraine-Russia.
2/24
Another theory is that Putin holds kompromat — compromising material such as videos or documents — that would put Trump in an extremely bad light. Some have suggested it could be tied to the Epstein files or Russia’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about engagement farming: a cynical social media tactic to rack up likes, shares, and comments. From rage farming to AI-powered outrage factories, engagement farming is reshaping online discourse and turning division into profit.
1/23
Engagement farming is a social media tactic aimed at getting maximum likes, shares, and comments, with truth being optional. It thrives on provocative texts, images, or videos designed to spark strong reactions, boost reach, and turn online outrage into clicks and cash.
2/23
One subset of engagement farming is rage farming: a tactic built to provoke strong negative emotions through outrageous or inflammatory claims. By triggering anger or moral outrage, these posts often generate 100s or even 1,000s of heated comments, amplifying their reach.