For years she whispered in the Russian president’s ear. Now Putin’s former interpreter is organizing election observation in Hungary. Human rights activists are calling on the Swiss OSCE Chairmanship to take action.
03/22/2026, 07:1403/22/2026, 07:14
Remo Hess, Brussels / ch media
In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban is fighting for his political survival in April. After 16 years in office, he could be replaced by challenger Peter Magyar in the parliamentary elections.
A diversionary tactic? Daria Boyarskaya in 2019 at the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Japan.Image: AFP/chmedia
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has an interest in ensuring that this does not happen. He maintains close relations with Orban. In return, he repeatedly attracts attention in the EU through pro-Putin positions.
The ballot is considered hot. Orban not only tailored the right to vote and hijacked the institutions for himself. According to media reports, there are also Kremlin emissaries in the country who are supposed to help in the final stages to turn the result for Orban.
In this context, the international election observers of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) have a particularly important role to play. But at the center of this mission is someone who was one of Vladimir Putin’s closest confidants for years: Daria Boyarskaya, his former interpreter and current employee of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
Daria Boyarskaya, Vladimir Putin’s interpreter, in a picture on social media.Image: x
Putin’s surprise coup with Trump
The Russian woman was Putin’s personal translator for several years and accompanied him to high-level meetings. She gained greater fame through her presence at the meeting with US President Donald Trump at the 2019 G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. She sat right next to Putin. To the right is long-time Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Trump’s then-security adviser Fiona Hill later said that Putin had deliberately used Boyarskaya to influence Trump. The Russians changed the interpreter at the last second. Instead of a man as previously reported, a “very attractive woman, with dark hair, a pretty face and a great figure” came into the room. Putin introduced his interpreter with a lot of fanfare, something he never does otherwise. This was a deliberate maneuver to distract the US President, Hill said in an interview.
You have to know: As Putin’s personal interpreter, Boyarskaya is not a civil servant like any other. Anyone who is in the president’s inner circle of power and has access to highly sensitive information must undergo a meticulous check by the FSB secret service. However, it is difficult to judge from the outside whether she is an agent herself. However, in 2022 she was denied entry by the Polish authorities because of her relationship with the Russian regime.
Human rights activist: “There should be no doubt about the integrity of the mission”
The 39-year-old has been working as a senior advisor at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Vienna since 2021. In this role, she coordinates and accompanies election observation missions. This also applies to the mission in Hungary.
This is a no-go for Hungarian human rights organizations. People were “shocked” when they found out that Boyarskaya was coordinating the mission in Hungary, says Marta Pardavi from the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a non-governmental organization that works to protect fundamental rights. Although Boyarskaya is not an election observer herself, she still has a central role as a coordinator. It is she who organizes the meetings of the delegates with the authorities, electoral commissions, parties, civil society actors and the media. As a result, it has a significant influence on who the election observers come into contact with.
In addition, she is directly involved in the confidential flow of information between civil society organizations and the OSCE delegates. For example, next week, when a preliminary delegation of election observers meets with various Hungarian NGOs. Trust is crucial, especially in the Hungarian environment, where Viktor Orban’s apparatus is taking action against civil society actors. Non-governmental organizations must be assured that what is said behind closed doors remains confidential. “And that doesn’t work when someone is sitting in the room who has been whispering in Vladimir Putin’s ear for years,” Pardavi told “CH Media”.
She therefore wrote a letter not only to the OSCE Secretariat, but also to the Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis on March 6th. She calls on him and Switzerland, as OSCE chairman, to withdraw Putin’s interpreter from the mission. “The OSCE cannot afford for even the slightest doubt to arise about the integrity of the observation mission,” says Pardavi.
The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) confirms receipt of the letter and promises a response. In general, an EDA spokeswoman emphasizes that Switzerland, as the incumbent OSCE chairman, attaches great importance to election observation missions. All employees of the OSCE and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly are subject to certain rules, including the ban on receiving instructions from any government. “The Swiss OSCE Chairmanship expects strict compliance with these rules,” said the FDFA.
Regarding Boyarskaya’s specific personality, the FDFA refers the Secretariat of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, which has a leadership independent of the Swiss Chairmanship.
There, Secretary General Roberto Mantella fully supported his employee. He chose her for the mission in Hungary and she enjoys his “complete trust,” said the Italian in his reply, which is available to this newspaper. He also speaks of “defamatory allegations” that were already investigated by the OSCE and externally in 2023. The matter is therefore considered to be settled. (aargauerzeitung.ch)