Fresh revelations that appear to show how Viktor Orban’s far-right government in Hungary worked with Russia to undermine EU sanctions targeting Moscow have been described as “disgusting” and “sinister” by other European leaders.
Speaking in Warsaw, Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk said it was clear Hungary was “dependent” on Russia when it came to positions it adopted at EU level.
The criticism followed the release of an audio recording which purports to capture a phone call between Hungary’s foreign minister Peter Szijjarto and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, indicating a close working relationship between the pair.
According to the recording, published by media outlet Vsquare, Lavrov called Szijjarto to remind him of a promise to help remove the sister of a Russian businessman from the EU’s sanctions list.
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In the English-language audio, purported to capture a phone call between the pair in August 2024, Szijjarto responds that Hungary and Slovakia would submit a proposal the following week to remove the woman from the list.
“We will do our best in order to get her off,” Szijjarto is heard saying in the recording.
The Irish Times was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the audio, but in a Facebook video, Szijjarto said wiretapping of his phone calls was a “huge scandal”.
Orban has been long viewed as the most pro-Kremlin leader inside the EU tent, frequently using national veto powers over joint decisions on foreign policy to block the rest of the EU from sending financial aid to Ukraine and from tightening economic sanctions on Russia.
The populist Hungarian leader is facing a fierce challenge in upcoming parliamentary elections on April 12th, where he is trailing behind Péter Magyar’s Tisza party in opinion polls, after 16 years in power.
EU officials and national diplomats from other member states have privately spent months hoping Orban is voted out of office in the upcoming elections, removing the major block he has become in Brussels.
[ Election posters plaster Budapest – but Orban is nowhere to be seenOpens in new window ]
Tusk, who has been outspoken in his criticism of the Budapest government in recent weeks, described the latest developments, concerning an EU member state working against the interests of the union, as “disqualifying”.
“The minister of foreign affairs of an EU member state reports to the minister of foreign affairs of the Russian Federation that the task was ‘completed’ and asks for ‘patience’, because there are still some other tasks to be performed. Is there anything more disgusting?” the Polish leader said on Tuesday.
Tusk, a centre-right prime minister, said the phone call amounted to evidence of “political collaboration”.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin, speaking after a meeting with Tusk in Warsaw, described the conversation between the Hungarian and Russian politicians as “unacceptable”.
“I think it’s a very sinister development. It confirms what many suspected, that the Hungarian government has been doing the bidding for Russia within the European Union for quite some time. The deferential tone in the conversation was alarming, and it really is a very serious situation,” he said.
The revelations may force a far-reaching overhaul of how the EU conducts closed-door discussions between ministers, national leaders, or diplomats, and even how the union takes decisions, if Orban survives the challenge and remains in power for another four-year term in Budapest.
Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that Szijjarto had for years made regular phone calls during breaks at EU meetings to brief Lavrov with what the paper described as “live reports on what’s been discussed”.
[ EU leaders are growing tired of the Viktor Orban showOpens in new window ]
Szijjarto initially dismissed that report as “fake news”, but later acknowledged consulting with non-EU countries before or after meetings of EU foreign ministers, including Russia, the US, Turkey and Israel, saying this was “perfectly natural”. – Additional reporting: Reuters
