Is Israel commandeering the Three Seas Initiative (3SI), a bloc of 12 countries in central and eastern Europe, in an effort to seize political control over the region? No, that's not true: 3SI was spearheaded by the presidents of Poland and Croatia to spur infrastructure development in the area between the Adriatic, Balkan, and Black Seas. There is no evidence…

Did Ukraine outlaw the practice of Orthodox Christianity? No, that's not true: Ukraine's parliament gave preliminary approval to a law that would prohibit the activities of religious organizations headquartered "in a state that carries out armed aggression against Ukraine." Observers say the measure will effectively ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, a Moscow-linked confession that is accused of collaborating with Russia…

Is Hungary refusing to adopt the euro as its currency in order to facilitate an Israeli "occupation" of the country by allowing Jewish investors to purchase real estate at more favorable exchange rates? No, that's not true: A Hungarian central bank official said Hungary cannot join the Eurozone at present because its economy is not in good enough shape. Moreover,…

Has "almost every government in the world" signed the World Health Organization (WHO) pandemic treaty, allowing the Geneva-based organization to dictate vaccine policy in the event of a future pandemic? No, that's not true: The claim conflates the WHO pandemic treaty, which is still in the drafting stages, with a United Nations political declaration that was approved on September 20,…

Can the regular consumption of cow's milk lead to cancer? No, that's not true: No conclusive evidence exists that establishs a direct link between cow's milk or its casein content -- the main protein in milk -- and cancer development. Milk is considered a component of a healthy diet. The claim appeared in a TikTok video (archived here) where it…

Is Hungary's government two-thirds Jewish? No, that's not true: There is no indication that any member of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's cabinet is a practicing Jew. Orbán and several of his government ministers profess to be Christians, and the government is constitutionally obliged to defend "Christian culture." The claim appeared in a Hungarian-language video (archived here) on TikTok on October…

Does this video show 50,000 bikers crossing the Jordanian border into Israel to fight? No, that's not true: The video is at least three years old and appears to have been filmed in Syria. The claim appeared in a video on TikTok (archived here) by @imreboros59 on October 9, 2023, under the title (translated from Hungarian to English by Lead…

Were 6 million Jewish settlers resettled in Hungary? No, that's not true: According to the country's 2022 census 7,635 Jewish people live in Hungary. The claim appeared in a video on TikTok (no longer available but archived here) that was published by Ildikó on October 14, 2023, under the title (translated from Hungarian to English by Lead Stories staff): ...…

Did the Illuminati start the Hamas-Israel conflict to make a human sacrifice and feed astral demons? No, that's not true: The current conflict started when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. There is no evidence the Illuminati exist The claim appeared in a video on TikTok (archived here) by @elkurtatok.ebred.a.nep on October 13, 2023. The narrator of the video…

Is a video evidence of a Hamas rocket reversing and striking a Gaza hospital in October 2023? No, that's not true: The video had already appeared on social media in 2022, long before the devastating explosion at Al-Ahli hospital, where hundreds were killed. The claim appeared in a video on TikTok (archived here) by @klaudia_rafael on October 18, 2023, under…

Did European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen say that Israel has the right to defend itself even by cutting off water and electricity in the Gaza Strip? No, that's not true: She supports the right of Israel to defend itself but with full respect of international humanitarian law. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok by…

Are most Israelis descendants of the Khazars, who established a medieval empire that ruled much of modern-day Ukraine, thus undermining their ancestral claim to the Holy Land? No, that's not true: Geneticists and historians have investigated this theory, long accepted as fact by many, and turned up no evidence to support it. The claim appeared in a Hungarian-language video (archived…

Did Sweden's public broadcaster misrepresent footage of Hungarian political activist Márton Gulyás, falsely claiming it showed him being assaulted by Hungarian government supporters? No, that's not true: The 2019 news report showed no scenes of Gulyás getting roughed up by anyone. The claim appeared in a Hungarian-language video (archived here) on TikTok on October 2, 2023, under the title (translated…

Did Muslim men film themselves smashing a statue of the Virgin Mary in Europe, betraying their plan to "invade" the continent? No, that's not true: The clip was shot near the city of Idlib, Syria, in 2013 by members of the Nusra Front, a jihadist group struggling to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to Arabic-language media. Idlib was home…

Did "Palestinian terrorists" carry out five attacks that killed hundreds of people in France, Belgium and Germany? No, that's not true: The perpetrators were of Arab origin but were not Palestinians. All have been linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), an Islamic extremist group that is not the same as Hamas, the Palestinian political party…

Did President Joe Biden leave Israel just two hours before the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023? No, that's not true: White House press releases prove he was in Washington, D.C. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok published by @tomika2121 on October 9, 2023, under the title (translated from Hungarian into English by Lead Stories staff):…

Did Nostradamus predict that Hungarians would overthrow a ruler he described as a "hyena?" No, that's not true: The "prophecy" appears in a 1996 book by Péter Szentmihályi Szabó, a Hungarian author who claimed to have discovered what might be a long-lost collection of Nostradamus' prognostications. Szentmihályi Szabó later acknowledged that he had written the text himself, according to Hungarian…

Did Pál Veres, mayor of Hungary's fourth-largest city, Miskolc, say public transportation "is not my job?" No, that's not true: His quote was edited. Veres was admonishing members of the Miskolc City Council who have no experience in urban mobility matters to defer to experts' opinions on revamping the city's mass-transit network. The claim appeared in a Hungarian-language video (archived…

Is Hungary's governing Fidesz party replacing indigenous Hungarians with Ukrainian Jews and other foreigners? No, that's not true: The claim focuses on a refugee center in Hungary that hosts observant Jews fleeing the war in Ukraine, most of whom did not stay for long. And while the total number of foreigners residing in Hungary has increased since Fidesz came to…

Are Ukrainian refugee men deported back home by the EU for compulsory military conscription? No, that's not true: The video in which this claim appeared shows a young man clutching what he says is an EU expulsion order, but it is actually a Spanish document that refugees use to obtain temporary protection status. Ukrainian diplomatic institutions have no authority to…