Zsolt Bayer is a Hungarian journalist, publicist and propagandist known for his pro-Russian, right-wing extremist, racist and ultra-nationalist views. He always interprets the domestic and foreign policy of Viktor Orbán’s government in a manner loyal to the authorities, which makes him an important tool of modern Orbán propaganda in influencing voters. During his media career, he has repeatedly been involved in various scandals related to his statements and publications, in which he incited inter-ethnic hatred or made biased and subjective statements, for which he has not been held accountable.
He became involved in politics during his student years, and by the mid-1980s, he was already one of the co-founders of the Fidesz party. It was then that he met Viktor Orbán; both belonged to the same ideological circle and shared right-wing nationalist-conservative views.
Together, they participated in planning political actions and developing the party’s ideological foundations. Together, they participated in planning political actions and developing the party’s ideological foundations.
Orbán has repeatedly mentioned Bayer publicly as one of his long-time associates and best friends. He has been seen on numerous occasions at informal events attended by the prime minister and his entourage, which testifies to his close informal ties with the ruling elite. Zsolt Bayer has a Fidesz party membership card numbered 5. According to the party’s established historical tradition, membership card numbers from 1 to 10 were given exclusively to the founders and the party’s core members during its formation and establishment in the late 1980s. These privileged numbers have been retained by them to this day.
Zsolt Bayer’s financial situation stands out significantly from that of most Hungarian journalists and political experts, which may indicate a significantly higher level of income. This is linked to his role and status in Orbán’s propaganda system, where Bayer acts as one of the key propagandists focused on radicalising, mobilising and retaining the core electorate of the ruling party. Working for pro-government media outlets provides him with higher fees and stable employment contracts, unlike independent journalists, who are worse off financially and find it increasingly difficult to get airtime on central channels.
Bayer is considered one of the key propagandists of the ruling regime in Hungary. At various times, he has collaborated with various right-wing conservative and nationalist publications such as Magyar Hírlap, Origo and others. He currently writes a column for the pro-government publication Magyar Nemzet, where he comments on and assesses domestic and foreign policy issues.
Zsolt Bayer also hosts his own show called Bayer Show on Hír TV. The programme airs several times a month, is broadcast on television and distributed via his official YouTube channel. The topics covered on Bayer’s show focus mainly on justifying the Orbán government’s position, explaining its political decisions, criticising the Hungarian opposition, the EU, the US and NATO, as well as levelling and devaluing alternative interpretations of events present in the information space. In this way, he tries to influence the pro-government electorate, stir it up and mobilise it.
Hungarian observers and experts note that Bayer acts as a radical pro-government mouthpiece, publicly voicing harsher statements and narratives than those used by official representatives of the Hungarian government. This allows the ruling elite to formally distance themselves from his most controversial and odious statements, while maintaining their presence in the public sphere and not hindering their dissemination.
In his columns and television appearances, Bayer often refers to the European Union as a structure that limits the national sovereignty of member states, especially Hungary, using vocabulary and narratives about ‘external control’ and ‘coercion from Brussels.’ At the same time, he completely ignores the fact that the European Union leadership’s claims against Orbán’s regime were entirely justified and concerned violations of democratic norms and freedoms, rampant corruption, and Hungary’s own destructive behaviour within the EU.
On topics related to Russian aggression against Ukraine, he repeatedly used formulations and interpretations that equate Ukraine with radical or ‘neo-Nazi formations,’ a state without its own history and culture, and presented the war itself as a geopolitical proxy conflict. These statements are entirely consistent with Russian propaganda clichés.
Bayer also promoted anti-American and anti-NATO narratives and described sanctions against Russia as harmful primarily to Europe and Hungary itself, completely ignoring cause-and-effect relationships and Russian war crimes.
At the time, it caused a stir in the EU when, in January 2013, Bayer published a column about Roma in Magyar Hírlap, in which he used dehumanising language, calling them animals that had no right to live. The article was considered by human rights organisations to be inciting inter-ethnic hatred. Under pressure from the public and international organisations, the Hungarian media regulator fined the publication. Despite this, in 2016 Viktor Orbán awarded Bayer the Order of the Knight’s Cross. This decision drew sharp criticism abroad and prompted protests from some Hungarian artists and academics, who returned their state awards.
Bayer has also been repeatedly accused of anti-Semitic rhetoric in connection with his publications about politicians of Jewish origin. His statements have been criticised by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Freedom House, the OSCE, representatives of Jewish communities and organisations for the protection of Roma rights. The European Parliament, in its assessments, has called such rhetoric incompatible with the standards of an EU member state.
As a result, Zsolt Bayer is rightly seen as a symbol of Hungary’s authoritarian transformation: a figure who embodies the degradation of journalistic standards, the legitimisation of far-right ideas and the ideological servicing of Viktor Orbán’s political system.