Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has publicly admitted to maintaining direct communication with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov immediately before and after EU Foreign Affairs Council meetings. This statement, made on March 23, 2026, effectively confirms earlier investigative reports by The Washington Post and Politico.
Key facts and consequences:
- The “Leak” Mechanics: According to sources, Szijjártó used breaks during secret EU deliberations to hold phone calls with Moscow.
- Budapest’s Position: The Minister justifies this as “multi-vector diplomacy,” claiming he also communicates with representatives from the US, Turkey, and Serbia. However, the context of the war makes such real-time coordination with the Kremlin a unique and dangerous precedent.
- Brussels’ Reaction: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk explicitly accused Budapest of informing Moscow “in every detail.” In response, the EU has already begun restricting Hungary’s access to confidential data and sidelining it from certain internal negotiations.
Analysis and Conclusion: The Szijjártó situation is no longer a hypothetical threat; it is an institutional breach. Hungary has transformed into a “legal access point” for the Kremlin into the EU’s internal decision-making mechanisms. The primary danger lies in the paralysis of European diplomacy: the inability to discuss sanctions or military aid to Ukraine in Hungary’s presence is forcing EU members to move toward separate, informal meeting formats. This erodes the unity of the union and creates a hazardous precedent where NATO and EU membership are leveraged for legal espionage in favor of a geopolitical adversary.