Viktor Orban's anti-Ukraine election gambit

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.4 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 4 April 2026

⏱️ 29 minutes

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Summary

Kate Adie introduces stories on the Hungarian elections, the Kurdish fighters readying to fight Iran, the Nigerian farmers working under armed guard, the Philippines fuel crisis, and how tourists are staying away from Jerusalem's holy sites.

Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban is facing a tough reelection battle, with the opposition centre right Tisza party ahead in the polls. During the campaign, Orban's Fidesz party has stoked fears about the malign influence of Ukraine and the EU. Nick Thorpe reports from Budapest.

On the Iraq-Iran border, Kurdish forces are gathering in preparation for a potential ground war in Iran, though there is caution about joining US forces, as Kurdish leaders say they were abandoned by the US coalition in Syria, despite thousands giving their lives to help defeat Islamic State. Jiyar Gol met them at their mountain base.

In Borno State in northeast Nigeria, farmers have to tend to their fields under armed guard because of the threat posed by Islamist militants. Ijeoma Ndukwe travelled to Maiduguri, where she met farmers hit by the pervasive threat of violence.

The Philippines became the first country to declare an energy emergency after fuel prices more than doubled since the Iran war began. Suranjana Tewari met transport drivers in Manila, who are struggling to make a living.

And in Israel, the closure of holy sites due to the heightened security threat caused by the war with Iran has led to disappointment among local business owners as the droves of tourists who typically visit at this time of year have decided to stay away, reports Sebastian Usher.

Series Producer: Serena Tarling Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison and Sophie Hill Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:05.4	Hello. Today we venture deep into mountain tunnels on the Iraq-Iran border, where Kurdish
0:12.5	fighters are poised for action. In the Philippines, the fuel crisis caused by the Iran War
0:18.9	has left Manila's taxi drivers queuing for hours.
0:23.5	Nigerian farmers tell us how their livelihoods are under threat from a resurgence in attacks
0:29.6	by Boko Haram militants. And finally, we're in Jerusalem, where the city's holy sites,
0:36.5	usually bustling with tourists at this time of year,
0:39.7	are unseasonally quiet. But first, Hungary goes to the polls next weekend in a closely watched
0:47.1	election. Often caught between the competing interests of the EU and Russia, the long-standing
0:53.6	Prime Minister, Victor Orban, is seen as one of President
0:57.5	Putin's closest allies in Europe. Mr. Orban has consistently angered his NATO and EU allies,
1:04.6	but in 16 years of almost unchallenged rule, he's created a populist nationalist brand, which has provided
1:13.1	the blueprint for many other leaders to follow, but now faces a serious challenger, says Nick Thorpe
1:19.8	in Budapest. This has been the craziest, most stressful election I've reported on in 40 years
1:27.0	as a correspondent in close to 20 countries.
1:30.4	Hungary's governing Fides party has put all its eggs, as it were, in the Ukraine basket.
1:36.2	While other European leaders queue up to shake Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's hand,
1:42.2	Viktor Orban, the incumbent, shuns it. Don't let Zelensky have the last laugh,
1:48.2	proclaim giant billboards plastered across the country. Another shows the Ukrainian leader holding out his
1:55.0	hand for Hungarian taxpayers' money. A third calls both President Zelensky and Beta Madhya, Hungary's opposition leader
2:03.5	and Prime Minister Orban's main challenger, the risk, a kotskazot, or the danger. While Orban is
2:11.3	the safe choice, there's even a new word in the Hungarian language, Ukranosny, which means to Ukrainize everything.
	...

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