When the controversial bombing of Kassa occurred, the government quickly declared the state of war existed between Hungary and the USSR, without receiving the consent of the Parliament.

[8] The Hungarian People's Republic (Magyar Népköztársaság) was the official state name of Hungary from 1949 to 1989 during its Communist period under the control of the Soviet Union.

[9] Despite these efforts, the Hungarian Communist Party came in third place in the elections, prompting the Soviets to directly impose a puppet government the following year.

The next few years were spent consolidating power, using the ÁVH secret police to suppress political opposition through intimidation, false accusations, imprisonment and torture.

[11] Dubbed the "bald murderer", Rákosi imitated Stalinist political and economic programs, resulting in Hungary experiencing one of the harshest dictatorships in Europe.

[11][14] After Khrushchev's "Secret Speech" denouncing Stalin's cult of personality, Rákosi was ultimately removed from power and replaced by the reformist Imre Nagy, who attempted to take Hungary out of the Soviet bloc.

[16] In 2000, during Viktor Orbán's first term as Prime Minister of Hungary, the country left the International Investment Bank, citing a lack of transparency.

[19] In his 2007 Munich speech, Vladimir Putin heavily criticized the United States and said that Russia will not tolerate Western dominance.

In this period, Russia's foreign policy started to be monitored with more suspicion in the United States, and US ambassador April H. Foley was keen to know where Hungary was going to stand.

[20] In their conversation Ferenc Gyurcsány claimed he was not aware of declining relations between the United States, and according to Foley's report, he got defensive about his relationship with Russia.

Viktor Orbán, then the leader of the opposition urged the Prime Minister to decline Putin's invitation, citing that Russia's goal is to use the conference to isolate Estonia.

In the end, both Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány and Finnish President Tarja Halonen attended the conference.

[26] Negative perception of this move was widespread, and Ferenc Gyurcsány attempted to control the damage by signalling commitment to the Euro-Atlantic community.

[29] After his shift away from his previously strong anti-Russian views, Orbán often mentioned the importance of powerful "Eastern countries", and in a 2024 speech he declared that a new world order is unfolding.

Created in opposition to Hungary's western alliances such as the European Union (EU) and NATO, the Eastern Opening plan heavily prioritized Russia as a viable ally, and efforts were taken to secure that tight relationship throughout 2013–2014.

[31] Following the Russian military intervention in Ukraine in 2014, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán rejected imposing sanctions on Russia despite EU pressure.

This has led to officials in the EU and NATO to accuse Hungary of being a "Trojan Horse", acting ultimately in the interests of Russia.

[32][16] In May 2019, concerned over close Hungarian relations with China and Russia, the Trump administration hosted Orbán in Washington, D.C., raising criticism from the EU and UN.

[50][51] Secret service was aware of the collaboration between the paramilitary organization and the Russian state agents, but could not take action because the mock combat activities did not violate any laws.

The events escalated when police obtained a search warrant under the suspicion that the leader of the organization, István Győrkös, was in possession of firearms illegally.

[53] The GRU members involved in training with the group returned home after being informally asked to do so, without escalating a formal diplomatic incident between Russia and Hungary.

A study by Corruption Research Center Budapest (CRCB) used statistical analysis of articles connected to divisive political issues.

It was also revealed that one of the most shared Hungarian websites on Facebook, Mindenegyben.com also covers divisible political issues using discourse nearly identical to Russian propaganda, even though their content is generally apolitical.

Russia outlawed pro-LGBT messaging directed towards minors in 2013, while Hungary banned its schools from promoting LGBT material towards children in June 2021, which was met with condemnation from the European Union.