The Washington Post is promoting accusations the Hungarian government is “hatemongering” against billionaire open borders activist George Soros – accusations made by a group Soros is funding.

In an article titled, “Hungary Accused of ‘Hatemongering’ in National Survey Targeting George Soros”, the left-wing media outlet reports that the government in Budapest “has come under fire from human rights groups and European Union officials who say they are engaging in ‘hatemongering’ propaganda”.

Not until roughly halfway through the article does the WaPo writer confess that the source of this accusation is a non-governmental organisation “which is partly funded by Soros’s Open Society Foundations” — and this is the only so-called civil society organisation which the article cites as complaining about the national consultation.

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In terms of “European Union officials”, the WaPo cites no-one at all, but instead quotes European Parliament member and former Prime Minister of Belgium Guy Verhofstadt.

The controversial but influential politician has denounced the national consultation, and claims to have persuaded the President of the European Parliament to summon the Hungarian ambassador to demand it is stopped.

Dr. Zoltán Kovács, senior spokesman for Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, has already responded to Verhofstadt at length in a very frank open letter, which points out that the Belgian was named on a leaked list of European politicians who Soros considers “reliable allies”.

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The Washington Post chooses to describe the convicted insider trader as a “billionaire philanthropist”, and makes several references to his ethnic heritage.

While the article refrains from accusing the Hungarian government of anti-Semitism outright, it indicates that Soros has been subject to anti-Semitic abuse in Hungary — and that anti-Semitic attitudes are widespread in the country.

Budapest has defended itself from similar accusations in the past, arguing that attempts to puncture any criticism of the mass migration activist by alleging anti-Semitism are “cynical and dishonest”.

Orban gets the seal of approval from Israel https://t.co/03aadkWOfS — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 18, 2017

Budapest has had a powerful ally on this score in the form of Israel, which has warned that people should not try to “delegitimise [Hungary’s] criticism of George Soros, who continuously undermines Israel’s democratically elected governments by funding organisations that defame the Jewish state and seek to deny it the right to defend itself”.

In addition, Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu has personally thanked Prime Minister Orbán for being “at the forefront” of the fight against the “new anti-Semitism that is expressed in anti-Zionism”.

Follow Jack Montgomery on Twitter: @JackBMontgomery