Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó described the recent audio leaks in Hungary’s ‘Russiagate’ as a ‘major scandal’, adding that they have now proven that foreign intelligence services are interfering in the country’s upcoming election.
‘Foreign intelligence services have been continuously wiretapping my phone calls, and these recordings have now been made public—a week and a half before the Hungarian parliamentary elections,’ Szijjártó said, adding that the incident is the ‘most severe, serious and most disgraceful foreign intelligence intervention’ in the country’s history.
On Tuesday morning, an English-language outlet linked to Hungarian journalist Szabolcs Panyi, in cooperation with four other European outlets, published an article and leaked audio recordings of Szijjártó’s private calls with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in which the Hungarian foreign minister discussed removing sanctioned Russian individuals, including relatives of oligarch Alisher Usmanov, from the European Union’s sanctions list. According to the recordings, Szijjártó sought advice on how to justify Hungary’s objections, coordinating with the Slovak government.
‘The incident is the…most disgraceful foreign intelligence intervention in the country’s history’
The reporting further suggests that Hungary used its veto power in EU decision-making to extract concessions while undermining sanctions policy, with some European officials interpreting Szijjártó’s conduct as akin to acting as a ‘mole’ for Moscow.
The recent article is a follow-up to another report published by The Washington Post on 21 March, alleging that Szijjártó has, for years, leaked confidential EU information to Lavrov. It further claims that Russian intelligence services proposed a fake assassination plot against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to boost his chances in the 12 April election. The Washington Post article is based exclusively on anonymous sources and an alleged Russian intelligence memo, intercepted and authenticated by an unnamed European intelligence service.
The claims were widely amplified by Western and Ukrainian media, commentators, and the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party, which accused Orbán of cooperating with Russia to remain in power and influence the outcome of the election. The Hungarian government has rejected the accusations as politically motivated, instead pointing to a foreign-orchestrated plot—linked to the EU and Ukraine—to undermine Orbán ahead of the vote.
The transcripts and recordings of Szijjártó’s phone calls were provided to Szabolcs Panyi, who, in another leaked audio, admitted to being in contact with certain foreign intelligence services, including discussing the Hungarian foreign minister’s contact details with them. Panyi is currently under investigation for espionage, following a probe launched by the Ministry of Justice last week.
The authenticity of the published audio recordings has not been denied by Szijjártó. In a video message posted on his Facebook page, he claimed that the current ‘foreign intelligence operation’ is evidently ‘taking place in the interest of Ukraine’.
Regarding the content of the recordings, Szijjártó said there had been no ‘major revelations’, arguing that they merely confirmed positions he has consistently expressed publicly. ‘I’ve been saying for four years now, for example: the sanctions policy is a failure; it causes more harm to the EU than to Russia,’ he stated, adding that the Hungarian government has also ‘made it clear countless times’ that it will ‘never allow sanctions to be imposed on individuals or companies that are important for the energy security’ of the country or for ‘achieving peace’. ‘I will continue to insist on this in the future.’
Concluding his remarks, Szijjártó added that the published recordings are ‘not complete’, noting that he regularly consults, and has consulted, with foreign ministers of numerous other non-EU countries regarding sanctions measures.
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