France, March 29 -- They may make Orban pay in a general election on 12 April that could spell an end to his 16-year rule.

The wealth amassed by Orban's inner circle is fuelling the increasingly palpable frustration of a population grappling with sluggish growth, high inflation and worsening public services.

"The government's communication machine worked well as long as our economic situation remained relatively good," Zoltan Ranschburg, a political analyst at the Republikon think tank, told the French news agency AFP.

No oil, no gas: Hungary's Orban tightens the screws on Ukraine

But it has not been good for years, he added.

"It's our money, not theirs. But they are spending it as if they were the sole owners," Gabor Szebenyi, an 81...