Here is another Hungarian victim of the war in Ukraine.
For five years now, a senseless war has been raging in our neighboring country, where several of our compatriots from Transcarpathia have already lost their lives. Mothers and fathers mourn their sons, who, after being forcibly conscripted, will never return home.
Károly Kádas was taken from his home village in December. In broad daylight, he was grabbed off the street and transported to a training base. For days, his family received no information about him, and then, before he could be deployed to the front, he died at the center. Although the Ukrainian authorities claim that he took his own life, all signs point to the contrary, as he had previously “mentioned to acquaintances a sergeant who was openly hostile toward him because of his Hungarian origin.” According to the grieving family, Károly may have been killed.
This is one story, but not the only one—just one of many. Every loss of life is a tragedy, and we must recognize this now. We in Hungary do not want to experience anything like this.
If we have a national government, we will stay out of the war and protect the peace of our country. That is why Fidesz is the safe choice.
Károly Kádos was forcibly conscripted by the Ukrainian authorities last December, and a few days ago, in March of this year, he died under unclear circumstances. According to the Ukrainian version, he committed suicide by shooting himself, but the explanation is quite strange—in fact, we could even say it is ridiculous and unbelievable. According to the official document, Kádos ended his life with multiple gunshots, and, strangely, the weapon could not even be found. So, according to the Ukrainian account, he shot himself several times and then made the weapon disappear.
Not to mention that, according to people who knew him, on the evening before his death he was making plans for his future, meaning there were no signs that he intended to end his life. According to local sources, the family suspects that their relative may have been killed in the Ukrainian army.
And this is just one story among many brought about by the war of the past four years. Hungarian mothers on the other side of the border are mourning their sons. Every loss of life is a tragedy.
We firmly believe that we must stay out of this war, because we do not want such tragedies to happen to Hungarians in Hungary as well. If Fidesz remains in power, Hungary will certainly stay out of the war—that is why Fidesz is the safe choice.
🔍 Rhetorical / propaganda analysis
1️⃣ “Another Hungarian victim” – immediate emotional shock opening
Excerpt:
“This is yet another Hungarian victim of the war in Ukraine.”
Technique:
➡️ Establishes a strong emotional frame already in the first sentence
➡️ The phrase “Hungarian victim” instantly triggers group identification
➡️ Starts not with analysis, but with a shocking claim
Goal:
➡️ To emotionally engage the reader before they ask critical questions
➡️ To frame the story not as an individual tragedy, but as a national grievance
Effect:
➡️ Creates a feeling of “this is happening to us”
➡️ The reader is more likely to accept later political conclusions
⚠️ Real issue:
➡️ Details, evidence, and sources are pushed into the background
➡️ A single case quickly becomes a collective political message
2️⃣ War = meaningless, Ukraine = violent actor
Excerpt:
“for five years… a meaningless war”
“after forced conscription”
Technique:
➡️ Morally pre-judged language
➡️ The word “meaningless” shuts down debate about causes and responsibility
➡️ Repetition of “forced conscription” builds a harsh, threatening image
Goal:
➡️ To portray the Ukrainian state as brutal and inhumane
➡️ To turn fear of war into political loyalty
Effect:
➡️ The reader sees not a geopolitical conflict, but vulnerable Hungarian victims
➡️ Strengthens the feeling that “it’s better to stay out of everything”
⚠️ Real issue:
➡️ The full context of the conflict disappears
➡️ One-sided moral language replaces factual explanation
3️⃣ Individual tragedy → generalized national narrative
Excerpt:
“This is one story, but not the only one — it’s already one of many.”
Technique:
➡️ Builds a general pattern from a single emotional case
➡️ Generalizes without data or evidence, using narrative instead
➡️ The word “many” creates a sense of certainty
Goal:
➡️ To present the case as systemic, not exceptional
➡️ To elevate the political claim to a societal level
Effect:
➡️ Creates the impression: “this is not a one-off, but a trend”
➡️ Increases fear and anger
⚠️ Real issue:
➡️ The generalization is not factually substantiated
➡️ Uncertainties of the individual case disappear in the collective claim
4️⃣ Emotional pressure built on family, parents, grief
Excerpt:
“Mothers and fathers mourn their sons”
“Hungarian mothers mourn… their Hungarian sons”
Technique:
➡️ Emphasizes family roles
➡️ Words like “sons,” “mothers,” “fathers” trigger strong emotional resonance
➡️ Speaks not about soldiers or citizens, but family members
Goal:
➡️ To connect the political message to deep human instincts
➡️ To frame anti-war stance as a family-protection reflex rather than strategy
Effect:
➡️ The reader experiences the story as more personal
➡️ Rational evaluation may be overridden by protective instincts
⚠️ Real issue:
➡️ The tragedy itself and the political conclusion drawn from it are separate issues
➡️ Emotional language can obscure this distinction
5️⃣ Suspicion presented as near-certainty
Excerpt:
“all signs point to the opposite”
“the grieving family believes he may have been killed”
“the family suspects that… he may have been killed”
Technique:
➡️ Frames uncertain claims as strong implications
➡️ “All signs” is an exaggerated generalization
➡️ Blurs the line between suspicion and certainty
Goal:
➡️ To convince the reader that the official version must be false
➡️ To discredit the Ukrainian side
Effect:
➡️ Creates the feeling: “they must be covering it up”
➡️ The audience is less likely to demand proof
⚠️ Real issue:
➡️ Suspicion is not the same as proven fact
➡️ The rhetoric pushes the reader closer to certainty than the evidence justifies
6️⃣ Mocking the official version
Excerpt:
“ridiculous and unbelievable”
“he shot himself multiple times and then made the weapon disappear”
Technique:
➡️ Uses ridicule and absurdity
➡️ Repeats the official narrative in a caricatured form
➡️ Dismisses rather than examines in detail
Goal:
➡️ To make the opposing version intellectually laughable
➡️ To lead the reader to reject it without examination
Effect:
➡️ The audience may feel a sense of superiority
➡️ Doubt is replaced by contempt
⚠️ Real issue:
➡️ Mockery is not evidence
➡️ Simplification may distort the original claim
7️⃣ Ethnic grievance framing
Excerpt:
“he was hostile towards him because of his Hungarian origin”
Technique:
➡️ Frames the event as ethnically motivated hostility
➡️ A personal conflict becomes perceived as anti-Hungarian bias
➡️ Adds strong identity-political charge
Goal:
➡️ To trigger national outrage
➡️ To embed the story in a “Hungarians are being targeted” narrative
Effect:
➡️ Stronger sense of collective grievance
➡️ The reader interprets it less as an individual case, more as group hostility
⚠️ Real issue:
➡️ The text does not clearly separate allegation, testimony, and proven fact
➡️ Ethnic framing is a highly mobilizing element
8️⃣ Fear transfer to Hungary
Excerpt:
“We in Hungary do not want to experience anything like this”
“we do not want such tragedies to happen to Hungarians in the mother country”
Technique:
➡️ Transforms an external tragedy into an internal threat
➡️ Not only evokes empathy, but also self-protection
➡️ Uses the frame: “this could happen to us too”
Goal:
➡️ To present a distant event as an immediate domestic political stake
➡️ To turn fear into political mobilization
Effect:
➡️ The reader feels the election is a matter of personal safety
➡️ Decision-making shifts toward emotional reasoning
⚠️ Real issue:
➡️ No direct causal link is proven between Hungarian domestic politics and such events
➡️ Fear may override proportional judgment
9️⃣ False binary choice: Fidesz or war
Excerpt:
“If we have a national government, we will stay out of the war”
“If Fidesz remains, Hungary will definitely stay out of the war”
“that is why Fidesz is the safe choice”
Technique:
➡️ Reduces a complex foreign policy situation to two options
➡️ Associates one side with peace, the other implicitly with war risk
➡️ “Safe choice” works as a security slogan
Goal:
➡️ To position Fidesz as the exclusive protector
➡️ To frame the election as an existential decision
Effect:
➡️ “If you don’t vote for them, you risk peace”
➡️ The opposition is implicitly framed as dangerous
⚠️ Real issue:
➡️ False dilemma
➡️ Foreign policy realities cannot be reduced to simple party logic
🔟 Political exploitation of grief
Excerpt:
The recurring endpoint of the tragic story:
“that is why Fidesz is the safe choice”
Technique:
➡️ Converts a personal death into a campaign message
➡️ Directly links empathy to political preference
➡️ Ends not with mourning, but with voting instruction
Goal:
➡️ To turn emotional shock into political capital
➡️ To use grief as a mobilization tool
Effect:
➡️ The reader may feel that the “correct” response to grief is political support
➡️ Moral reaction becomes tied to party loyalty
⚠️ Real issue:
➡️ A human tragedy and a campaign conclusion are not the same
➡️ This is especially powerful because it transforms moral sensitivity into voting behavior
🧩 Overall pattern: what is the core propaganda formula?
The structure of the text:
a tragic, partly unclear death
→ framed as a national grievance
→ embedded in a narrative of Ukrainian brutality and Hungarian vulnerability
→ amplified through fear
→ simplified into a political conclusion: Fidesz = peace
So it does not merely inform, but builds a directed emotional pathway:
empathy → outrage → fear → loyalty → voting message
📌 Strongest propaganda tools in this text
- emotional shock opening
- family-based grief framing
- presenting suspicion as fact
- turning external threat into internal fear
- false dilemma: peace vs opposition
- political use of tragedy
📝 One-sentence summary
This text uses a human tragedy to demonize Ukraine, generate fear among the Hungarian public, and convert that fear into political loyalty toward Fidesz.