Regular guest of Hungarian pro-government media checks in from Russian side of front line

“Indeed, the commander mentions how much he loves Hungarians every time, and he often talks about how much respect they have for Viktor Orbán over here, just like they do for the Hungarian government and Robert Fico, because they believe there are only two decent leaders in Europe,” Georg Spöttle, a prominent figure of the Hungarian pro-government media said when checking in from the Russian side of the front in his latest YouTube video, which he subsequently set to private. As the investigative journalism center Direkt36 reported earlier this year, it was because of Spöttle, who regularly disseminates fake news in line with the Kremlin's official narrative in Hungarian pro-government media, that an acquaintance of his who was applying to become a diplomat failed the national security screening – on account of Spöttle's connections to the Russian intelligence services.

Spöttle, who is often invited to pro-government media outlets as a security policy expert, spends most of the two-and-a-half-minute video talking about Chechen drone defense units, located just 1-2 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. At the beginning of the video, he describes the drone detection device atop the SUV visible behind him, then shares a lengthy monologue about the details of drone attacks. "It's good to be here with them because I'm seeing so many new things and I am able to show you what war is really like," he concludes.

A Chechen commander, Mohammed, also appears in the video, speaking broken English mixed with some Russian. He talks about what a good man the Hungarian Prime Minister is, to which Spöttle adds, "I can certainly agree with that!" Spöttle has been in Russia for some time now. Last week he posted a photo showing him with a presumably Russian soldier, and he has also posted videos on his YouTube channel from Moscow, among other places.

In an investigative article published at the beginning of summer, Direkt36 revealed that Georg Spöttle's connections to the Russian secret service caused an acquaintance of his who was applying to become a diplomat to fail their national security screening. According to the article, Spöttle then attempted to use his political connections to secure a place for his acquaintance in the diplomatic training program.

Despite this revelation, Spöttle remained a regular guest of the pro-government media throughout the summer and even has his own podcast series on the YouTube channel of Pesti Srácok. However, since the publication of Direkt36’s investigative article, he has not been mentioned once in Magyar Nemzet, Híradó.hu, or Mandiner. Before the end of August, Spöttle was interviewed by the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti six times, where he was introduced as a “Hungarian political analyst.”

Despite the recent article, Spöttle has continued to publicise his connection to the Orbán government: he appeared with Fidesz politicians at the Bálványos Free Summer University, and at the end of July set the cover photo of his Facebook page to display the Fidesz logo.