Has Hungary announced it will leave the European Union and soon join BRICS, an intergovernmental organization created by Brazil, Russia, India, and China? No, that's not true: No such announcement has been made, and Hungary remains a member of the European Union.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on October 27, 2024. It featured a picture of Viktor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister, and an English text overlay that read, literally: "Hungry announced to leave EU soon joining BRICS" and "Hungry will begin to distance itself from the economy of the European Union."
It also showed a text overlay in Slovak translated by Lead Stories staff as: "CNN - Hungary will leave the EU and will join BRICS."
Some of the comments below the video in Czech, translated by Lead Stories staff, read:
the Hungarians have sense and I just hope that when there is no fiala´s ukrainian government we could do the same
(The translation reflects the way the comment is written in Czech).
Viktor, you are the best for me, great respect and admiration Mr Orban. I wish there were more like you.
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Nov 11 09:06:01 2024 UTC)
Hungary holds the rotating EU presidency until the end of 2024 (archived here). On November 8, 2024, the country hosted an informal European Council meeting in Budapest (archived here), where leaders adopted a "Budapest Declaration" (archived here), which outlines steps to make the bloc more competitive globally. The presidency website does not contain any news about Hungary announcing its plan to leave the EU, according to a search carried out by Lead Stories for the phrase "Hungary leaving the EU" on November 12, 2024 (archived here).
Hungary is listed among the members of the EU (archived here), and Prime Minister Viktor Orban is a member of the European Council, according to the respective official websites (archived here).
The Hungarian government website also contains no statements in which Hungary announced its intention to leave the EU (archived here). A search by Lead Stories on the website on November 12, 2024, using the phrase "Hungary leaving the EU" yielded no relevant results (archived here).
Also, no news reports about Hungary leaving the EU appeared online. Lead Stories searched Google News' archive of thousands of reliable media publications for critical phrases such as "Hungary announces to leave the EU and joining Brics" on November 12, 2024. The results yielded dozens of unrelated articles, none supporting Hungary's alleged plans to leave the EU and join Brics (archived here).
Additionally, a search on the CNN website, conducted on November 15, 2024, yielded no results supporting the claim in the TikTok video above (archived here).
BRICS (archived here) started in 2009 as an informal group of four major emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Two years later, South Africa also joined, and the organization now has ten members, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Iran.
In October 2024, there were news reports (archived here) about Serbia, a prospective EU member, pondering a partnership with the BRICS group. Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin (archived here) attended a BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, in October 2024, where he also met with Russia´s President Vladimir Putin, according to a government press release. Serbia is also a candidate country for becoming a member of the EU (archived here).
