Over the past several months we've frequently noted the devolving relationship between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and billionaire financier George Soros.  Tensions escalated last month when Orban took it upon himself to mail a Soros-related questionnaire to all 8 million Hungarian voters (see: Hungary Launches Anti-Soros Political Campaign) and then followed that up with an announcement that Hungary's intelligence services had been instructed to "map" Soros' network of influence.

As Orban's ruling party gears up for parliamentary elections in April - where it is the prohibitive favorite to win largely thanks to its refusal to accept refugees under a plan devised by the European Commission - the prime minister has instructed his intelligence services to map what he described as the networks run by the billionaire financier's "empire" targeting his country, Bloomberg reported.

Intelligence agencies will help evaluate what he sees as efforts by Soros to get Hungary punished by EU institutions pursuing a "mixed-population" continent, Orban said in an interview with Kossuth Radio on Friday.

The Associated Press added that the investigation will also focus on alleged Hungarian members of the network.

Intelligence agencies will help evaluate what Orban sees as efforts by Soros to get Hungary punished by EU institutions pursuing a "mixed-population" continent, Orban said in an interview with Kossuth Radio on Friday.

Today, Soros has decided to strike back with a scathing "rebuttal" posted to his website blasting Orban for his "anti-Soros, anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic propaganda effort."

On October 9, 2017, the Hungarian government mailed a national consultation to all eight million eligible Hungarian voters purporting to solicit their opinions about a so-called "Soros Plan." The statements in the national consultation contain distortions and outright lies that deliberately mislead Hungarians about George Soros's views on migrants and refugees. Hungarian government officials also falsely claim that George Soros is somehow controlling the European Union decision-making process. In fact, decisions on how to address the migration crisis are made by EU member states and institutions, including the Hungarian government.

With Hungary's health care and education systems in distress and corruption rife, the current government has sought to create an outside enemy to distract citizens. The government selected George Soros for this purpose, launching a massive anti-Soros media campaign costing tens of millions of euros in taxpayer money, stoking anti-Muslim sentiment, and employing anti-Semitic tropes reminiscent of the 1930s. The national consultation is part of an ongoing propaganda effort that has been underway since May 2015 that included the "Stop Brussels" consultation in the spring of 2017 and the referendum that vilified migrants and refugees in 2016.