Emotions are running high in the election film from the Hungarian ruling party Fidesz ahead of the parliamentary elections on April 12.
"When is daddy coming home?" asks a little girl, looking out at the rain outside.
The next clip shows the father as a captured soldier kneeling in the mud - about to be shot in the head.
"Don't take the risk! Fidesz is the safe choice," the dramatic announcer says as tears run down the girl's cheek.
Warning for Brussels
The message is clear: only Fidesz can guarantee that Hungarians will not be sent as cannon fodder to the war in Ukraine - something the Hungarian government claims the EU and Ukraine are planning.
"It's a new situation in Brussels. They expect Hungarian soldiers to be sent to Ukraine," Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó claims in a clip from a government meeting with Orbán.
The Prime Minister himself has added that the threat to Hungary comes from the West - not from the East.
"The scaremongering about Russian President Vladimir Putin is primitive and frivolous. Brussels, on the other hand, is a tangible reality and a source of immediate danger," Orbán said when he launched his campaign in mid-February.
Sex and drugs
The next move is expected to be a smear campaign against opposition leader Péter Magyar.
In February, a picture of a bedroom began circulating with the promise of "coming soon." Magyar then came forward and explained what he expected: a film of him having sex at a party in 2024 - probably also combined with false drug accusations.
Whether the film is enough to sink Magyar, however, remains to be seen.
"It depends on what's in the film," says Péter Krekó from the think tank Political Capital to the news site Politico Europe.
Russian influence
In any case, it is clear that 44-year-old Magyar is seen by the government as a serious threat.
The concern is apparently also shared by those in power in both the US and Russia, who are actively supporting Orbán's campaign. Magyar accuses the government of letting in Russian agents to help influence the election.
"Orbán's government has been Russia's best asset ever in the EU and NATO. It would be idiotic for them not to do everything to keep Orbán in power," said analyst András Rácz of the German think tank DGAP at an event in Brussels last week.
Correction: In an earlier version of the text, the wrong age was given for Péter Magyar.
Viktor Orbán (born 1963) has been the Prime Minister of Hungary since 2010 and leads the conservative Fidesz party, which at the EU level is part of the far-right PFE group together with, among others, the French National Rally and the Belgian Vlaams Belang.
Péter Magyar (born 1981) has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2024 and party leader of the opposition party Tisza, which at the EU level is part of the Christian Democratic conservative party group EPP with, among others, the Swedish M and KD.
