Hungary says EU intelligence agencies wiretapped Foreign Minister Szijjártó

The pro-government Hungarian media outlet Mandiner reported on March 23 that the Hungarian Foreign Minister was being wiretapped by European intelligence services. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has ordered an investigation into this.

The source for Mandinerʼs statement was allegedly a letter with audio recordings that the editorial office received from an anonymous person, and they are reproduced in the publication.

Journalists say that the secret service of one of the European countries allegedly gained access to the ministerʼs phone conversations. According to them, the phone number was given to her by opposition journalist Szabolcs Pani, who works for “Direkt36” and “VSquare”. The same material emphasizes that Pani is friends with oppositionist Anita Orban, who, if the opposition "Tisza" wins, may head the Hungarian Foreign Ministry.

Orbán then wrote on Facebook that “the wiretapping of a member of the government is a serious attack against Hungary”. He added that he had instructed the justice minister to immediately investigate information about the possible wiretapping of Szijjártó.

The publication in Mandiner appeared two days after an article in The Washington Post, which stated that Szijjártó regularly called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during breaks in EU meetings to provide “live reports on what was being discussed” and possible solutions. In the same publication, the WP wrote that Russian intelligence had suggested staging an assassination attempt on Orbán in order to boost his approval ratings ahead of the election.

After that, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the EU had long suspected that Hungary was informing Russia about EU meetings. And Politico wrote that after Tuskʼs words, the EU limited the flow of confidential materials to Hungary, and leaders began to meet in smaller groups.

• Hungaryʼs parliamentary elections are scheduled for April 12. They could be the biggest challenge to Orbanʼs 16-year rule and his “Fidesz” party. Preliminary opinion polls show Orbanʼs main opponent, Peter Magyarʼs opposition “Tisza” party, ahead of “Fidesz".
• FT reported in February that the European Commission has become more lenient in criticizing Orban and may even provide his government with new money before the election. Brussels does not want to be accused of interfering in the election or for Orban to use it in his anti-European campaign.

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