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00:02:01and this week we are with you from Hungary.
00:02:05Following a major political upheaval, I have come here to understand how Viktor
00:02:08Orban, with the longest prime ministerial term in the European Union, lost
00:02:12power, and whether his downfall could be a wake-up call
00:02:16for populist leaders around the world. Also in this
00:02:19program, we reveal how self-proclaimed extremist Russian
00:02:23groups, by creating fear and intimidation, target citizens
00:02:26who they claim are Russia's enemies. The surrogacy
00:02:35industry in Ukraine has generated billions of dollars for the country, but
00:02:39now politicians are considering banning foreign couples from
00:02:43paying Ukrainian women
00:02:54Budapest, directly in front of the Hungarian Parliament,
00:02:58where on the 9th, thousands of people gathered
00:03:02to celebrate a rare political event in Europe today. Viktor
00:03:05Orban had the longest prime ministerial term in the European
00:03:09Union, and over 16 years, he built
00:03:13a political system around himself and changed the face of democracy
00:03:16to maintain power. For this reason, the results of the April
00:03:20elections, with an extraordinarily high voter turnout of over 80%,
00:03:23surprised many. Peter Magyar, the new Prime
00:03:26Minister of Hungary, said that the system
00:03:44of the Hungarian constitution, we will ensure that the concentration of power, as we have witnessed in the past,
00:03:48never happens again in this
00:03:50country.
00:03:53How did Peter Magyar manage to achieve such a stunning victory,
00:03:57and what does the defeat of Viktor Orban, a close ally of Donald
00:04:01Trump and Vladimir Putin, who for years has been a thorn in the side of the European Union and
00:04:05Ukraine, mean for Europe and the world? To
00:04:08understand the extensive dominance of Viktor Orban and the Fidesz party over
00:04:12Hungarian institutions, I spoke with Agnes
00:04:16Ferencz, a civil society expert.
00:04:18کردم.
00:04:21In the past five years, since the coronavirus pandemic, a state
00:04:25of emergency has been in effect. This means they could suspend the implementation
00:04:28of laws and even pass new laws
00:04:32without parliamentary interference. The enormous propaganda machine of the Fidesz
00:04:36party also played a significant role in maintaining power.
00:04:39Viktor Orban also used his authority to allocate
00:04:42funds to consolidate his dominance across the country.
00:04:46Government funds and European Union funds were distributed
00:04:50among cities based on their support for Fidesz. That is, mayors who
00:04:54supported Fidesz received funding for their cities. Even at
00:04:57the local level, these mayors only allowed people who voted for the party
00:05:00access to the government employment program.
00:05:04Orban's populism was welcomed by ordinary Hungarians. It should not
00:05:08be forgotten that Orban's government really
00:05:42was in the beginning, it was an excellent Viktor is a great
00:05:45leader. Many people traveled to Budapest
00:05:49to learn from the man who had brought the democratic system to the brink
00:05:52of collapse and still retained power, but
00:05:55discontent was growing, and a new political
00:05:59coalition was formed. This is the headquarters of Partizán, one of
00:06:02the most influential political YouTube channels in Hungary, a media
00:06:06outlet that was once one of the few platforms not controlled
00:06:09by Orban. In 2024, Partizán published
00:06:13an interview that became highly controversial on social media. This interview was with
00:06:16an influential figure in the political structure who had left Orban's party
00:06:20due to concerns about corruption. That politician
00:06:24was Peter Magyar. A system can collapse very
00:06:27quickly, in a few weeks or even in a few
00:06:31moments. Magyar became a prominent figure overnight and within
00:06:35two years was able to remove Viktor Orban from power.
00:06:38I asked the political editor of Partizán how Peter Magyar and his party
00:06:43achieved this success. The interesting
00:06:46lesson to be learned from this election is that the reason for their victory
00:06:49was not the mobilization of this or that particular social group, but rather their ability
00:06:53to form a much broader coalition than anyone had imagined.
00:06:56I think during the election campaign, Peter
00:07:00Magyar visited hundreds of cities, including small towns whose
00:07:04residents were not accustomed to politicians paying attention to them. My second
00:07:07point is that his messages revolved around issues
00:07:11that were not particularly controversial
00:07:14in terms of culture. He focused on issues where his
00:07:17own position was shared with the position of the overwhelming
00:07:21majority of Hungarians, who are a conservative society.
00:07:24But after the initial excitement begins
00:07:28to confront reality, the real challenge begins: dismantling a system
00:07:31built to maintain power.
00:07:35Regarding the remaining former elite, we are seeing
00:07:38signs of a fundamental change. The media system of Mr.
00:07:42Orban is collapsing at an unexpected
00:07:45rate. So here too, we are witnessing a fundamental change.
00:07:48And here, a more important question arises: Can
00:07:52Hungary, which was once a symbol of the growing wave of conservative populism,
00:07:55now be the point from which this wave begins
00:07:59to recede? And
00:08:03now to Russia, where a new spontaneous movement has emerged
00:08:06across the country, accelerating the trend towards
00:08:10nationalism and control. They call themselves "Ruska
00:08:13Obshchina" and are accused of targeting those they consider
00:08:17enemies of Russia by creating fear and intimidation. Members of this
00:08:21group say they defend public order and support the war, but critics
00:08:25warn that they are arbitrarily taking on the role of law enforcement, and
00:08:28some of their members are linked to extremist movements. The BBC
00:08:32has been tracking the rise of this group.
00:08:34کرده.
00:09:57She was crying loudly. The situation was very
00:10:01bad. Alongside the police, masked men
00:10:05with the "Ruska Obshchina" emblem forcibly entered the premises.
00:10:09They forced the guests to show their passports
00:10:12and took their pictures. I immediately realized that these
00:10:16were not police officers. They had no
00:10:18proper uniform, nothing. They were
00:10:22just ordinary people.
00:10:26My friend was filming. One of the members of
00:10:29Ruska Obshchina went up to him and threatened him,
00:10:33saying, "Do you want to end up like this too? What? Do you want to lose
00:10:37your phone?" "Why are you asking that?" "It's obvious. Do you want your phone
00:10:40or not?" "I'm filming
00:10:42you."
00:10:45I felt like everything was pre-arranged and that they were
00:10:48specifically targeting me and everything I
00:10:51represent.
00:10:56When I was leaving the party, they
00:10:59interrogated me. An officer
00:11:02took me aside to talk
00:11:05to me. He said, "I don't
00:11:08conform to traditional values. I'm
00:11:12a problematic person, and people
00:11:15like me should leave the
00:11:18country."
00:11:27Coinciding with Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which he claimed
00:11:31was aimed at "denazifying" the country, developments that had already
00:11:35begun in Russia accelerated. We must
00:11:38resist ideas imposed on
00:11:41our citizens, especially the youth, that
00:11:45threaten our values. Patriotic education,
00:11:48a war economy, and the suppression of dissent became
00:11:52part of everyday life.
00:12:05Putin increasingly championed an image of Russia rooted
00:12:09in the past and called for a return to
00:12:12traditional values. Across the country,
00:12:16nationalist movements followed his lead
00:12:19and emerged.
00:12:21Activists of these groups
00:12:31say they help maintain public order, support
00:12:34the war effort, and seek to revive Russian
00:12:37identity. Their critics say some of these groups
00:12:40are a front for extremist activities and intimidation.
00:12:44Ruska Obshchina, or the Russian Community,
00:12:48is by far the largest of these groups.
00:12:51This group now has nearly 150 branches
00:12:55across Russia and the occupied territories.
00:12:59Ruska Obshchina is an informal group of Russians
00:13:01who have come together to support each other.
00:13:05Our focus is on helping the community and keeping
00:13:08our traditions and cultural identity alive.
00:13:12We are everywhere, just
00:13:13look around.
00:13:17If you see a Russian, it might be one of us. This
00:13:20group operates through a widespread network of social
00:13:24media channels. These channels promote
00:13:27Russian identity, the war, and intimidating
00:13:31actions against those they believe undermine
00:13:35their values. Dmitry joined Ruska
00:13:50Obshchina over three years ago. He spoke
00:13:53to us on condition of anonymity and under the pseudonym
00:13:57Dmitry. We
00:13:59are doing a lot for the community now.
00:14:03We are trying to make the world a better place.
00:14:07This group primarily targets immigrants, but
00:14:10abortion clinics are also among its targets.
00:14:13"Why are you killing Russian children?" and
00:14:17cultural
00:14:17events.
00:14:21We are trying to eliminate some of this filth
00:14:49People are tired of all this chaos.
00:14:51People see that the police can't handle
00:14:55the situation. They want to help the community and the government
00:14:59to make the streets safe. This means
00:15:02resisting foreign
00:15:05influence.
00:15:10Ruska Obshchina mobilizes its thousands of followers on Telegram,
00:15:14urging them to take action in their neighborhoods. These actions
00:15:17often begin with followers reporting suspicious activities
00:15:21in group chats. Then, members of Ruska
00:15:25Obshchina, either accompanied by law enforcement
00:15:28or alone, arrive at the scene and confront
00:15:32the individuals they have targeted. Some actions are also
00:15:35pre-planned, including raids on construction
00:15:39sites, dormitories, shops, and nightclubs.
00:15:43Members publish videos of these
00:15:46actions to encourage others to take similar
00:15:49actions. Some of these posts have been viewed
00:15:53hundreds of thousands of times. To understand
00:15:56the scope of this group's activities, the BBC has analyzed over 21,000
00:16:00posts published in their main public channels on Telegram
00:16:03and confirms that the activists of this group
00:16:10In over 300 of these cases, the actions were carried out
00:16:13with the accompaniment of law enforcement. The actual numbers are likely higher.
00:16:17One month after the raid
00:16:21on Katya's party, she was prosecuted on charges of insulting
00:16:24religious feelings, a criminal offense that
00:16:28can carry up to three years in prison.
00:16:30The basis
00:16:34of the accusation was that members of Ruska Obshchina
00:16:54Witnesses claimed she had insulted the feelings of Orthodox believers.
00:16:57My opinion is that the people
00:17:01from Ruska Obshchina created the situation themselves,
00:17:05and then they come and say they were insulted.
00:17:09You know, if they hadn't
00:17:11attacked my party, they wouldn't have seen
00:17:15anything to be insulted by, and they wouldn't have
00:17:19had any excuse to punish me.
00:17:23In court, I looked
00:17:30into the eyes of the witnesses and hoped
00:17:33for a spark of humanity within them. One of Katya's friends recorded
00:17:42her last words in court. "I don't accept
00:17:46the accusation. The witnesses who lied
00:17:49must be held accountable."
00:17:52Something like this doesn't
00:18:00happen overnight, especially not across
00:18:04the whole country.
00:18:07It is highly likely that the Kremlin is aware of Ruska Obshchina's
00:18:11activities and is currently allowing it to continue its work. If
00:18:15it were otherwise, they would have shut it down by now. That's how
00:18:18it works. They ban anything they don't want,
00:18:21just like that.
00:18:25At the group's annual ceremony commemorating Russian
00:18:28traditions, powerful and influential figures, as well as controversial
00:18:32individuals, are present in the front row, including
00:18:35Archimandrite, one of the influential figures
00:18:57portraying itself as a grassroots movement originating from society.
00:18:59"There is no oligarch behind us. Let them say
00:19:03whatever they want. No one funds us."
00:19:05However, financial documents seen by the BBC
00:19:08show that this group receives money from anonymous
00:19:12charities. One of these foundations
00:19:15belongs to Sergei Mikheev, who is famous for his controversial
00:19:19statements on television. He is reported to have close ties
00:19:23with the Kremlin and also carries out missions
00:19:26for Russian intelligence agencies abroad.
00:19:30Another consistent financial supporter of this group is a foundation
00:19:33controlled by Igor Khudyakov, a reclusive
00:19:37billionaire and one of Russia's largest landowners.
00:19:53Well, I was sentenced to 20
00:19:56hours of community service.
00:19:59I felt defeated. I experienced a very bad
00:20:03feeling. The BBC has interviewed a number
00:20:10of Ruska Obshchina supporters who explained how
00:20:14the groups of this movement mobilize alongside government institutions.
00:20:18In contrast, critics say the online content of this
00:20:21group exaggerates the true extent of their activities.
00:20:25We also spoke with many victims who, out of fear,
00:20:28were unwilling to speak on camera and spoke of the hostility
00:20:32and intimidation that cast a shadow over their daily
00:20:36lives. How long this movement will last depends
00:20:40on the ruling system. However, their ideas and views
00:20:43continue to spread.
00:20:45Ukraine has long been one of the main
00:20:48centers for surrogacy in the world, and the low cost and relatively
00:20:52easy laws in this field have attracted applicants from various
00:20:55countries to Ukraine. Even after the start of
00:20:59Russia's full-scale invasion, this industry has continued, and fertility
00:21:03clinics have adapted to wartime conditions.
00:21:07However, Ukraine's role in this industry has not been without controversy.
00:21:10The Ukrainian Parliament is currently considering a new law
00:21:14that could prohibit foreigners from using surrogate
00:21:18mothers in the country. An action that may
00:22:16The use of a surrogate mother was their last resort.
00:22:20Ryan offers something that few countries have:
00:22:23a tried and tested legal system and an affordable
00:22:27option for surrogacy. Now, after nine months, they are meeting
00:22:31their son for the first time. For a moment, I think to myself, "Is
00:22:34this really happening? Is this really our baby?" You've dreamed
00:22:38of something like this for years, and now your wish has finally
00:22:42come true. This is so
00:22:45good.
00:22:47This was the best thing that
00:22:59Thousands of people travel to Ukraine for surrogacy every year.
00:23:03Even with the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the war
00:23:06disrupted the industry's activities, but it could not stop
00:23:10it. My name is Karina, I'm 22, and I'm pregnant
00:23:14with a Chinese couple's
00:23:15child.
00:23:19When our situation
00:23:28was such that we were counting change to buy baby formula and diapers,
00:23:32that's when I thought to myself, "I have to
00:23:36do something." She now receives approximately
00:23:39$17,000 for this pregnancy. "I know
00:23:43it's not my child, but I still love them. I talk
00:23:46to them. When they kick, I talk to them."
00:23:50Critics say cases like Karina's raise difficult
00:23:54questions. Surrogacy clinics very
00:23:58openly say they target poor women. And now that
00:24:02the war continues, the number of poor women is growing more and more.
00:24:06Desperate and penniless women who have lost their jobs
00:24:09and sources of income want to survive and support
00:24:12their families. And surrogacy clinics
00:24:16offer them this opportunity because Western couples
00:24:20want to have children at low cost. I am egg donor
00:24:23number 43. Surrogacy clinics do not share
00:24:27this view. They say they provide an opportunity
00:24:31for women to earn income legally while helping
00:24:34others to have children. This has become a multi-billion
00:24:38dollar global industry. Clinics compete on websites
00:24:42and social media to attract clients, and their advertising
00:24:46methods are sometimes very explicit and even aggressive.
00:25:03Our investigations show that in many cases, applicants travel
00:25:06to Ukraine late to pick up their babies. Some
00:25:10clinics even have special rooms for keeping
00:25:14these babies.
00:25:21Just now, we heard the air raid siren,
00:25:24which means all the children are being
00:25:27taken to the basement to be safe.
00:25:31It is in such a tense and dangerous environment
00:25:35that applicants sometimes leave their babies in Ukraine
00:25:38for a period of time. However, this situation may soon
00:25:42change. The Ukrainian Parliament is currently considering a new
00:25:46law that could ban the use of surrogate mothers
00:25:50for foreign parents, effectively ending the activity of one
00:25:53of the world's largest surrogacy markets. The purpose of
00:25:57the bill is to have clear regulations for this field
00:26:01because currently there is practically
00:26:03nothing. For many couples around the world, this is an
00:26:07opportunity to turn their long-cherished dream of parenthood
00:26:11into a reality. You know,
00:26:14I think it's completely wrong and
00:26:17inhumane. We help them, and they help
00:26:21us. If this opportunity didn't exist, our child
00:26:25Alexander wouldn't be with us. Many
00:26:28countries have already banned or restricted surrogacy.
00:26:32How long will this opportunity continue
00:26:35to exist
00:26:36in Ukraine?
00:28:06The water and suffering of Iranians. When
00:28:09Tehran's metro destroyed the Mehr aqueduct in Toopkhaneh,
00:28:13we disrupted the physical environment.
00:28:16Other fishermen
00:28:20are like us. They are also unemployed.
00:28:23The same fate has befallen the lagoons as has befallen
00:28:27our other demands. It's saline
00:28:30water now, because of water scarcity.
00:28:42Karun has enriched an Iran that is an oppressed,
00:28:46grieving mother, but an Iran has forgotten it.
00:28:50It's a shame that such beauty
00:28:52is disappearing.
00:28:58Water Season with Kaveh Madani on Aparat.
00:29:07The US midterm elections: A tight race for
00:29:11both houses of Congress. Democrats' bid to
00:29:14control Congress in the midterm elections. The war with Iran
00:29:18has significantly increased gasoline and diesel prices
00:29:21and intensified economic pressure on American
00:29:25voters. Will Republicans pay the price for Trump's
00:29:28declining popularity? What is the impact of these elections on America's
00:29:32future? Stay with us for comprehensive
00:29:35coverage of the midterm elections from BBC Persian.
00:30:23Breaking news:
00:30:25I can say that we have now reached a two-day plan.
00:30:28Tehran declares readiness to open the Strait
00:30:31of Hormuz. In 48 hours, Mohsen Rezaee spoke
00:30:35with Putin. Beijing said they support Iran's right
00:30:38to defend itself.
00:30:41A wave of criticism against the attack on a Qatari
00:30:45gas tanker in the Persian Gulf. The Revolutionary Guard claimed
00:30:48to have targeted 11 vessels in the past nine
00:30:51days.
00:30:56Controversy in the state of Michigan.