European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will demand explanations from Budapest and Moscow after the release of recordings of conversations between the foreign ministers of Hungary and Russia.
This was reported by the European Commissionʼs chief spokeswoman, Paula Pinho, during a briefing.
“The revelations in the investigative journalism highlight the worrying possibility of the government of an EU member state [Hungary] collaborating with Russia. This amounts to actively working against the security and interests of the EU and all its citizens,” said Pinho.
According to her, the Hungarian government must urgently provide an explanation. The European Commission leader will also raise this issue with the leaders of Russia and Hungary.
In addition, a group of MEPs sent a letter to the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Mezzoli, expressing concern about the risks of information leaks amid the incident with Hungary and Russia.
“Pro-Russian MEPs with ties to the Putin regime can still attend closed committee meetings and hire staff without proper security clearance or open sources. This allows them to collect confidential information, including details of our military and financial support for Ukraine, and pass it on to the Russian side,” the MEPs said in a statement published by one of them Petras Auštřevičius.
The MEPs are asking Metsola to take specific measures and restrict access to confidential information for "some openly pro-Russian members of the European Parliament and their offices".
Recordings of conversations between Szijjarto and Lavrov
On the eve of the parliamentary elections in Hungary, a group of investigative journalists published recordings of conversations between Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. The first part of the leaked conversations suggests that in 2023-2025, Szijjártó regularly contacted Lavrov and shared information about internal discussions in the EU and Hungary.
In particular, during a call to Lavrov on August 30, 2024, the Hungarian Foreign Minister revealed details of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting he had attended the previous day. Lavrov, in turn, asked Hungary to help lift sanctions on Russian oligarchs.
Also in the published audio recordings of conversations between Szijjártó and Lavrov, the Hungarian discussed with the Russian a plan to slow down Ukraineʼs accession to the EU.
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