Media: Former Hungarian Foreign Ministerʼs events were attended by employees of the ministry who posed as journalists

Only selected journalists were invited to the press conference of former Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, and there were also Foreign Ministry employees posing as media representatives to create the impression of a full hall.

This was reported by the Hungarian publication 444, citing sources.

According to the Foreign Ministry employees, they were required to fill the 50-60 seats in the hall. Another important requirement was that half an hour before Szijjártó arrived, everyone should have taken their seats and “sat in complete silence”. At the end of the event, no one was allowed to stand up until the former Hungarian Foreign Minister did so.

One Hungarian Foreign Ministry official said that they sent people to press conferences “whose workload allowed it the most”. Another said that they had a rotation system and that he went to these events every two weeks.

• Péter Szijjártó was Hungaryʼs foreign minister under Viktor Orbán. He resigned from his parliamentary seat after the Fidesz partyʼs defeat in the April elections.
• Previously, Hungarian investigative journalists published recordings of conversations between Szijjarto and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, which suggested that Szijjarto had coordinated with Russia actions against the interests of Ukraine and the EU. In July, Hungary began investigating the former foreign ministerʼs ties to Russia. Szijjarto himself denies all the allegations.

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