Tényleg azt nyilatkozta Novák Katalin volt magyar köztársasági elnök egy interjúban, hogy ő csak egy bábu, és a Kereszténydemokrata Néppárt (KDNP) frakciójában "melegek, gyakorló pedofilok és egykori beszervezett ügynökök ülnek"? Nem, ez nem igaz: az interjú hangsávját manipulálták. Novák az eredeti videóban Ferenc pápa 2023-as magyarországi látogatásáról beszélt. A köztársasági elnök 2024. február 10-én nyújtotta be lemondását. Az állítás egy…

Are Germans singing in the streets to welcome "hitherto unseen" numbers of migrants, even though the number of crimes committed by migrants in Germany has soared by 72 percent since 2021? No, that's not true: The video with the claim shows Germans giving immigrants a choral reception, but it dates from 2015 when Germany was taking in unprecedented numbers of…

Will cash users face penalties on public transport starting in summer 2024? No, that's not true: The Hungarian government aims to introduce a cash-free system on board vehicles, but the details are not clear yet. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on January 18, 2024, under the title, translated from Hungarian into English by Lead…

Did Gaspar Orban, son of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, die of a drug overdose in Marbella, Spain, in early January 2024? No, that's not true: The Ministry of Defense confirmed that Gaspar Orban is alive, currently serving in the Hungarian army, and preparing for a mission in Africa. The claim appeared in a TikTok video no longer available but…

Did Katalin Cseh and Anna Donáth, the two members of the European Parliament from the Hungarian Momentum party manage to expel Hungary from the Erasmus Programme? No, that's not true: The European Union ceased to support the Erasmus grants of Hungarian students and researchers after an EU Council decision in December 2022. The claim appeared in a video (archived here)…

Is the World Economic Forum (WEF) planning to force people to observe "personal carbon allowances," legally restricting the amount of carbon emissions that individuals might generate during their daily activities? No, that's not true: The claim misrepresents an opinion piece that appeared on the WEF's website in 2022. The article proposes creating incentives for people to monitor their behavior vis-à-vis…

Do 99 percent of Hungarians refuse the creation of "migrant ghettos" in Hungary and oppose weapon shipments to Ukraine? No, that's not true: The data source is a recent national consultation, which was only answered by 1.5 million out of 8.2 million Hungarian voters. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on January 25, 2024, under the…

Does Ukraine forbid ethnic-Hungarian students in its Transcarpathia region to speak Hungarian at school, even amongst themselves? No, that's not true: The claim misrepresents guidance that Ukraine's education minister sent out to school administrators in October 2023. The minister mandated that Ukrainian be the sole language of school instruction, but specifically exempted institutions where classes are taught in ethnic-minority languages.…

Is "Disease X" a mysterious virus deadlier than COVID-19 and kept a secret from the general public? No, that's not true: Disease X is a term used by the World Health Organization to describe a hypothetical virus that is presently unknown, serving as a strategy for preparedness in the event of a global emergency like a pandemic. The claim appeared…

Did European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen say that Hungarian European Union funds remain frozen because Hungary is against illegal migration and gender propaganda? No, that's not true: The video making this claim is edited and mistranslated to suggest that the EU's measures were a consequence exclusively of Hungary's approach to migration and LGBTQ rights. In fact the Commission…

Did the "prime minister" of Scotland deliver a bigoted speech in which he complained that his country had too many white residents? No, that's not true: Humza Yousaf, who has Pakistani roots, never uttered such words during a parliamentary speech, instead expressing support for anti-racism activists in the United States. Moreover, the speech took place in 2020, nearly three years…

Did Hungarian authorities announce an "Orange Warning" after a dangerous alien creature was seen in the country? No, that's not true: There was no active warning on Hungarian authorities' website at the time of the writing and the "Orange Warning" is used by the National Weather Service. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on January 13,…

Are German farmers "furious" about their government's financial support for Ukraine's war effort and imports of Ukrainian grain to European markets? No, that's not true: The farmers who have been blocking traffic on German roads are upset about the government's planned subsidy cuts and tax policies, not its policies toward Ukraine. Moreover, an opinion poll shows that a majority of…

Did a muezzin, an Islamic official who proclaims the Muslim call to prayer, sing at a 2023 Christmas market in Berlin? No, that's not true: The event at which the man was singing was not a Christmas market and was not in Berlin. The claim appeared in a Hungarian-language video (archived here) on TikTok on December 24, 2023, under the…

Is Hungary's governing Fidesz party moving to abolish private property ownership with its new law on real estate registration? No, that's not true: The claim is based on a minor semantic change to the current rules governing property records. The new law, which will digitize Hungary's cumbersome paper-based system of registering deeds, does not contain any language about eliminating individual…

Are half of Romanian children born outside Romania? No, that's not true: This myth is spread by Romanian and Hungarian politicians but data from Romania's National Institute of Statistics (INS) contradicts the claim. The claim appeared in a TikTok video (archived here) published by the Hungarian government party, Fidesz, on December 11, 2023. It features a quote from one of…

Did Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban tell Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the inauguration of Javier Milei as Argentina's new president, that Russian President Vladimir Putin knew something "special" about him? No, that's not true: Orban and Zelenskyy exchanged a few words in front of cameras during the ceremony, as shown by footage shared by major international media. Their conversation,…

Did German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expel Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban while other European Union Council members voted on the accession of Ukraine? No, that's not true: The chancellor suggested this tactic to Orban so they could have unanimity. According to Scholz, he offered some time for Orban to think, but Orban made a quick decision and left the room.…

Did immigrants in Germany complain in a documentary by the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle that white-skinned bureaucrats decided on their asylum applications? No, that's not true: The complaint is based on an incorrect translation of the English version of the video. Neither of the two immigrants interviewed for this video complained in this way, and neither of them applied for…

Does Member of the European Parliament Klara Dobrev think that Hungarians are manual laborers, cheap, stupid, vulnerable and unnecessary people? No, that's not true: One of her sentences from 2020 was twisted. The claim originally appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on December 9, 2023, under the title (translated from Hungarian to English by Lead Stories staff): Dobrev's…