The news that the Government of Viktor Orbán filters in real time to Vladimir Putin Sensitive information about what is happening at European meetings has provoked indignation, but not surprise, in Brussels and further complicates the EU’s effort to keep Ukraine afloat, just when Donald Trump has diverted all his attention to the war in Iran.
“The timing of this accusation is clearly tied to the election campaign. But it is very possible that it is true. In fact, I think we all act on the assumption that Hungarians probably do it“, a European diplomat tells EL ESPAÑOL when asked about this possible case of espionage in favor of the main enemy of the EU.
“It confirms what we have suspected for a long time”a second senior European official assures this newspaper.
According to an investigation by Washington Postwould be the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártówho in recent years has transferred confidential information to Moscow about what was discussed in the Foreign Councils.
Szijjártó llama a su homólogo ruso, Sergei Lavrovduring the breaks of the 27 ministerial meetings in Brussels to update him on the discussions and even suggest possible response strategies to the Russian authorities.
“For years, practically every EU meeting has had Moscow sitting at the table,” denounces a senior community official quoted by the WaPo.
The Commission of Ursula von der Leyen gives full credibility to this news and asks the Government of Budapest for explanations. “The information about the alleged conversations of the Hungarian Foreign Minister in which he would have made known to his Russian counterpart what was discussed behind closed doors in the Council It is very worrying“said the Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Anitta Hipper, this Monday.
“The relationship of trust between the Member States, and between them and the institutions, is fundamental for the functioning of the EU, and we hope that the Hungarian Government will offer the corresponding clarifications,” added the spokesperson, who at the moment does not contemplate sanctioning measures.
The Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Péter Szijjártó, during a meeting in Brussels
“That Orbán’s people inform Moscow about the EU Council meetings in great detail should not surprise anyone. We have suspected it for a long time. That is why I only intervene when it is strictly necessary and say what is fair and necessary“, the Polish Prime Minister has written, Donald Tusksuggesting that the leaks also affect the summits.
In this sense, no one has ever explained Orbán’s strange turn during the decisive summit on December 18 last year, when the heads of State and Government had to approve economic and military aid to Ukraine for 2026 and 2027.
For weeks, and much of the summit, European leaders worked on the idea of a “repair loan”: finance kyiv with the 210 billion euros of Russian public funds frozen in the EU since the outbreak of the war.
Not only so that Moscow would pay for the damages of the war, but also because this mechanism did not require unanimity and allowed bypass the Budapest vetowhich has systematically blocked or delayed both European aid to Volodímir Zelenski like the sanctions against Putin.
The decision was stuck due to the doubts of Belgium – headquarters of Euroclearthe financial company that guards the majority of Russian funds – which feared retaliation from Moscow and demanded unlimited guarantees from its partners.
When the European Council was already entering the early hours of the morning, Hungary – with the support of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, other allies of Moscow in Brussels – surprised with an alternative solution to maintain support for Zelensky: a credit of 90 billion guaranteed by the EU budget, without touching Russian funds.
This alternative required the unanimous support of all 27 member states, and Orbán and his partners granted it on the condition of being excluded from any financial obligations. Although the EU has done its part, the Hungarian prime minister announced in February that he was reneging on the pact and vetoed the credit of 90,000 millionwhich is still in the air today.
The Hungarian Government calls “completely unfounded“the accusations against Szijjártó and attributes them to a “coordinated effort” between Brussels, Zelenski and the opposition leader Péter Magyar (from the Tisza party, attached to the EPP), whom all polls show as the winner of the Hungarian elections on April 12.
Peter Magyar, during an electoral event on National Day.
Reuters
But at the same time, Budapest denounces that a European intelligence service has tapped the phone of its Foreign Minister (and implicitly recognizes that it would have thus obtained the information – which would be true – leaked to the WaPo).
“The eavesdropping of the Hungarian Foreign Minister by the services of another country is a serious matter. If this was done with the knowledge and in the interests of the Tisza party, it is outrageous and unacceptable,” Orbán himself said this Monday.
The risk of Hungary providing confidential information to Moscow has forced 27 of the most sensitive initiatives to support Ukraine to be left out of the meetings, which are now being debated in smaller formats, such as the E3 (France, Germany and the United Kingdom), the Weimar group (Germany, France and Poland) or the Coalition of Volunteers, as reported Politico.
“Orbán is Putin’s man within the EU, that is nothing new“, he wrote in his X account the German MEP of the Greens Daniel Freund.
“But if Szijjártó is actively providing sensitive information to the Russians, the EU has a duty: to suspend Hungary’s vote in the Council now,” claims Freund with the hashtag #CazaDeTopos.
Although the rest of the Member States lost their patience with Orbán a long time ago, Brussels will do nothing with this new scandal. As was made clear at last week’s summit, European leaders are banking everything on the April elections. But if Orbán retains his victory, they will have to make difficult decisions.
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