We are all familiar with Aesop’s ancient Greek fable about the boy who cried wolf. For those who are not: the cautionary tale tells of a shepherd boy who repeatedly tricks villagers into thinking a wolf is attacking his flock. When a real wolf eventually appears and the boy cries for help, no one believes him—and the sheep are devoured. In a later English-language poetic version, the wolf eats the boy as well. The moral is simple and universally understood, even by children: if you are a liar and deceive others long enough, no one will believe you—even when you tell the truth.

Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar increasingly resembles that shepherd boy. In his latest stunt, he promised supporters the release of a ‘document’ that—he claimed—would lead to the downfall of Viktor Orbán’s government. The ‘document’, later revealed to be an audio recording, was promoted by Magyar and his cronie Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, former Chief of the Hungarian Defence Forces. According to them, the recording—described by Magyar as something that ‘flew through the window’—would expose the government’s supposedly dishonest peace policy regarding the war in Ukraine. ‘Tomorrow morning at 9am, we will publish the evidence that will make it clear to everyone that Viktor Orbán’s government has been lying to us all these years,’ Magyar declared in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

Thursday morning arrived, and the much-hyped audio recording was published. Lasting just over one minute, it features Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky speaking about basically the modernization of Hungary’s armed forces and the need to prepare for potential conflict. The full English transcript reads:

‘We are building a Hungarian army that is fit for combat. As part of this, we are moving away from our previous peace-focused activities—most importantly, we are breaking with the peace mentality. The process, which we have publicly described as rejuvenation, is the most effective way to shift this mindset and move to phase zero of preparing for war.’

While it is clear that Péter Magyar interprets this statement as a confession—an admission that the government has been hypocritically promoting peace while preparing for war—this interpretation is fundamentally flawed. It is not hypocrisy. It is precisely what any responsible government would do when war is raging in its neighbourhood.

Advocating for peace on the international stage does not mean defunding the armed forces or leaving a country defenceless. Quite the opposite: preserving peace requires military preparedness. That is exactly what US President Donald Trump and Republicans refer to when they speak of a ‘peace through strength’ doctrine.

As the Western world enters a new era of rearmament—with nearly all European countries increasing defence spending at an unprecedented pace—Hungary’s opposition leader has chosen to condemn the government for doing the same. And he expects the government to fall because of it. This says a great deal about Péter Magyar.

‘Preserving peace requires military preparedness’

First, it reveals how out of touch he is with reality. Believing that promoting peace and building military capability are mutually exclusive is a serious sign of incompetence—and a dangerous one, should he ever come to power. It suggests a fundamental lack of understanding about governance and national security.

Second, it shows a deep disregard for the intelligence of his own supporters. In the same post where he released the recording, he wrote: ‘While the Orbán government has been talking about protecting the Hungarian people for years, they are the ones who are willing to sacrifice the safety of their own countrymen for money and power.’ This statement does not follow from the content of the recording. It is not even disinformation—it is an outright lie. Building a capable army does not amount to ‘sacrificing the safety’ of Hungarian citizens; it is the very opposite. But in Magyar’s distorted worldview, this false conclusion is apparently justified.

Third, considering the content of the recording and the weight Magyar tried to attach to it, it is increasingly clear that he has no incriminating material against Orbán or his government—despite repeatedly claiming otherwise.

Magyar’s so-called ‘government-toppling’ revelations fell short of expectations—even according to Hungarian opposition media. As 444 pointed out, Szalay-Bobrovniczky had made strikingly similar statements during a parliamentary hearing back in 2023. At the time, he stated that while the government remained committed to peace and a ceasefire, Hungary’s military must be prepared for the possibility that the Russian–Ukrainian war could continue for an extended period. This, he said, was the rationale behind nominating Gábor Böröndi—who replaced Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi as head of the army—to lead the Defence Forces from a combat-level structure to an operational one.

‘Building a capable army does not amount to “sacrificing the safety” of Hungarian citizens; it is the very opposite’

According to the parliamentary transcript, Böröndi told the hearing:

‘A chiselled peacekeeping system has been established in the Hungarian Defence Forces, but we have moved to phase zero. Hungary and the surrounding states—the frontline states—Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria, have certainly entered phase zero, which is the pre-war state. There should never be a war, but we must be ready for it.’

It is important to note that this is not Magyar’s first attempt to create a scandal through secretly recorded audio. He first entered the political scene by releasing a recording of his ex-wife, former Minister of Justice Judit Varga, in which she allegedly admitted that the government falsified confessions in a corruption case. But as in the current case, reality failed to match Magyar’s claims.

This leads to the inevitable conclusion that Péter Magyar is, in fact, the boy who cried wolf. He builds up anticipation with grand claims, promising revelations that will topple the government. But when the recordings are released, they reveal nothing of the sort. Instead, it is Magyar’s own credibility that takes the blow.

This is a dangerous game. Playing with the trust of the electorate never pays off—and Péter Magyar may learn that lesson the hard way.

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