Though backing further and further into a corner, Putin is not entirely bereft of friends and allies, with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán one such example.

Orbán, who has long-standing ties to Putin, has repeatedly questioned the efficiencies of sanctions against Russia and its impact on gas prices, while often echoing the Kremlin’s talking points.

Now, after more than a decade of near silence on the platform, the Hungarian leader appears to have begun using Twitter to vent these frustrations. But is it really him?

The Claim

A tweet, seemingly sent by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on October 19, 2022, states: “They tell me Russian gas is bad. They tell me we should stop buying it. But nobody tells us how to replace Russian gas. Not in five years, but tomorrow. We need to run our economy, it’s as simple as that.”

The Facts

Orbán, leader of the Fidesz party, has been at the head of the Hungarian government since 2010, having been reelected for the fourth time in April 2022.

While Hungary remains within the EU, Orbán has been a regular and vocal critic of the European bloc, which has in turn hit back labeling his government an “electoral autocracy.”

His political distance from the EU has become starker since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Orbán has spoken previously of his warm relationship with Putin.

Although Orbán has found some support in the West, particularly among conservative groups in the U.S., he has also been accused of suppressing media freedoms, undermining the independence of Hungary’s courts, and has been called racist on a number of occasions for discouraging Hungarians mixing with other races.

Until recently he has not had a Twitter profile; an account that tweets from the office of the prime minister, AboutHungary, was suspended in 2020 “without warning” according to reports but later reinstated.

This all changed abruptly earlier this month when Orbán launched his account with the message: “Let’s make some noise! From now on you can also follow me on Twitter. Busy day ahead in Berlin with@Bundeskanzler. Stay tuned!”

The same day he used the platform to reach out to former President Donald Trump, an ally of Orbán, tweeting: “After my first day on Twitter, there’s one question on my mind. Where is my good friend,@realDonaldTrump?”

Although his profile does not appear to have been verified by Twitter, several outlets reported on his new account while a number of his tweets have been retweeted by fellow government colleagues, including his most recent post about Russian gas.

Among those who have retweeted the Orbán account recently is the aforementioned AboutHungary, which is a verified and official Hungarian government social media account.

David Pressman, the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, also welcomed the Hungarian leader to the platform.

Orbán has been a vocal opponent of EU-led sanctions on Russian gas imports following the invasion of Ukraine.

The difference of view has reportedly led to rifts with other nationalist European countries such as Poland, who have called Orban’s stance on Ukraine as “very disappointing.”

His tweet, concerning frustrations about where Hungarian ought to find its gas supplies without Russia, echoes other comments he has made on Twitter and elsewhere.

On October 14, 2022, he wrote: “What is the European interest? To switch Russian energy dependence to US energy dependence? No. We need energy independence instead.”

Newsweek has contacted the Hungarian Office of the Prime Minister and Twitter for comment.

The Ruling

True.

Although unverified by the platform and marking an abrupt change for a social media skeptic Viktor Orban, the Twitter account does appear to be real. The Hungarian PM was using the account to vent about sanctions on the import of Russian gas. Tweets from his account have been reposted by a number of Hungarian government colleagues.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team