The electoral campaign of Hungary has become a crucial confrontation over loyalty, sovereignty and Russiafollowing reports alleging that the foreign minister, Péter Szijjártóshared on several occasions details of confidential EU meetings in Brussels with the Russian chancellor, Sergei Lavrov.
Budapest has rejected the accusations as “fake news” y “nonsense conspiracy theories”but the repercussions have been immediate: the European Commission has requested clarifications, Germany has described the accusations as “very serious” and diplomats claim that the distrust towards Viktor Orbán’s government had already led the allies to hold more delicate talks in smaller circles, without the participation of Hungary.
The timing couldn’t be worse for Orbán. After 16 years in powerfaces the toughest challenge of his mandate from Péter Hungarianthe former member of Fidesz whose party, Tiszahas led most of the polls prior to the elections of the April 12. Magyar has described the alleged contacts with Moscow like a betrayal of both Hungary and Europewhile the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tuskstated that long-standing suspicions about the conduct of Budapest were no surprise.
The scandal broke out just after Orbán would anger EU leaders by blocking the implementation of a loan package 90 billion euros for Ukrainedespite having previously supported the measure. His veto was conditioned on the lack of repair of the Druzhba (Amistad) pipeline on the part of Kyivwhich transports Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia via Ukraine and was damaged after russian attackswhich sparked accusations of “blackmail” y “disloyalty” by their European counterparts.
Orbán has incorporated this dispute into his campaign speechintroducing Brussels and Kyiv like external forces that threaten the hungarian interests. Los anti-Ukrainian messagesthe warnings about foreign interference and the investigation into the alleged escuchas telefónicas is Szijjártó have intensified the feeling of siege. At the same time, the nationalist right
european has turned to Budapestcon Marine Le Pen, Geert Wilders and others praising Orbán as symbol of resistance to the EU establishmentwhile Donald Trump publicly supported him again through a video last saturday.
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