Péter Szijjártó at a meeting with Vladimir Putin on March 4, 2026. Image: www.imago-images.de
Hungary is said to have reported information from EU meetings directly to Moscow for years. The focus is on Orbán’s Foreign Minister Szijjártó.
03/22/2026, 03:2803/22/2026, 03:28
Hungary’s government has provided Russia with insight into confidential EU votes for years, several current and former European security officials told the Washington Post.
Accordingly, Moscow benefited in several ways: through contacts within the Hungarian government and through successful hacker attacks on the Foreign Ministry network. Ferenc Fresz, former head of Hungary’s cyber defense, also confirmed this to the newspaper.
The allegations against Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó are particularly explosive. He regularly spoke on the phone with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during breaks in EU meetings. He provided “live reports on the discussions” and possible solutions, a security official told the Post. “Basically, Moscow sat at the table at every EU meeting,” said the official.
According to the newspaper’s research, Szijjártó also personally maintained close contacts with Russia. Since the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022, he has officially traveled to Moscow 16 times. His last visit to date took place on March 4, when he met President Vladimir Putin. Szijjártó left an inquiry about the allegations unanswered.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has maintained a comparatively close relationship with Russia and President Vladimir Putin for years – an attitude that is increasingly causing tensions within the EU. While many European states have significantly reduced their relations with Moscow after the Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022, Hungary’s head of government continues to rely on dialogue and economic cooperation. Particularly in the energy sector, Budapest remains heavily dependent on Russian gas and oil, which Orbán repeatedly cites as a reason for his cautious sanctions policy.
Critics accuse Orbán of undermining the EU’s common line and directly serving Putin’s interests. Hungary has repeatedly delayed or weakened EU sanctions and opposed arms deliveries to Ukraine through its territory. Orbán himself, however, emphasizes that he is acting in the national interest and wants to keep Hungary out of the war. Observers also see his course as a domestic political calculation: the demonstrative demarcation from Brussels strengthens his profile as a head of government that emphasizes sovereignty. (t online)