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A VSquare investigation makes shocking accusations against Péter Szijjártó: informing Moscow during sensitive EU discussions, offering to send documents, and a closeness to Lavrov that is pushing Hungary ever closer to the status of the Kremlin's "Trojan horse" in Europe...
An investigation published by VSquare, and reviewed by Daily News Hungary , has released one of the most serious allegations ever made against Hungarian diplomacy within the European Union. At the center of this story is Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, who is alleged to have had numerous phone calls with Sergei Lavrov during the years 2023–2025, even at very sensitive moments for European decision-making on Ukraine and Moldova. According to the article, in one of these cases, he is suspected of having informed the Russian side about the progress of internal EU discussions.
If this story were to be fully confirmed, then we would no longer be dealing with just a Hungary that is politically blocking Brussels, but with something much more serious: with a member of the EU and NATO that is suspected of functioning as a dual channel of communication for the Kremlin's interests at the heart of Western institutions. This is the crux of the scandal. Not simply the contact with Lavrov, because diplomatic contacts exist. But the alleged nature of these contacts and the time when they allegedly took place.
According to VSquare, one of the most problematic episodes relates to the European Council meeting of December 14, 2023, when EU leaders were discussing the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. At that meeting, Viktor Orbán was threatening a veto, while during a break, Szijjártó allegedly left the room to call Lavrov and inform him about the progress of the negotiations and the Hungarian plan. The investigation also cites a conversation in which Lavrov expresses satisfaction with what he hears, even commenting that sometimes “direct blackmail” is the best solution.
Even more explosive is the other accusation: that Lavrov asked Szijjártó for a document related to the compromise on opening negotiations with Ukraine, and that the Hungarian minister immediately replied that he would send it to him, via the Hungarian embassy in Moscow. VSquare itself admits that it is not clear exactly what the document was, while a senior EU official, quoted by the investigation, says that with “99 percent certainty” it was about the negotiating framework, which by then was already public. So there is a very important element here: the accusation is political and serious, but the very nature of the document also leaves room for debate about the real weight of the alleged “secret”.
However, the problem does not end with the document. The problem is the behavior. Because, according to the same investigation, the relationship between Szijjártó and Lavrov goes beyond the usual diplomatic framework. VSquare uses very strong language and quotes sources from Western intelligence and diplomacy, who describe this relationship as similar not to that of the two counterparts, but to a relationship of political and informational subordination. This remains an accusation that has not been independently verified by official authorities, but is sufficient as an indicator of the level of distrust that already exists towards Budapest in European circles.
The story gets even more serious when the investigation moves to 2024. According to VSquare, on the day Orbán visited Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev, Szijjártó called Lavrov again to inform him about what had happened, and even asked if Vladimir Putin would receive Orbán before the NATO summit. According to the report, the aim was for the Hungarian prime minister to explain to Putin the consequences of the meeting in Kiev, while this move was kept secret from European partners and NATO allies until it was revealed in the media. If this is correct, then we are dealing with a parallel diplomacy, organized not in the interest of European unity, but to preserve the special Budapest-Moscow line.
Essentially, this scandal does not erupt in a vacuum. It fits into the entire political profile that Viktor Orbán’s government has built up over the years within the EU. Hungary has consistently been the closest voice to Russia in the bloc, especially on the Ukraine file, in debates about sanctions, energy and enlargement. This means that the VSquare investigation does not fall like a meteor from a clear sky; it feeds on a previous climate of suspicion, where many European partners have long seen Budapest not as a difficult player, but as a systematic obstacle to the common European interest.
Here lies the strongest political nerve in this story. If a foreign minister of an EU member state informs Moscow during sensitive union negotiations, then the issue is no longer just Orbán or Szijjártó. Then the very credibility of the European mechanism of consultation, confidentiality and solidarity is called into question. In other words, if these allegations prove to be true, Hungary will no longer be seen simply as a “rebel” within the EU. It will be seen as an organized political current in favor of Russia.
Of course, a necessary distinction must be made here between fact and interpretation. The fact is that Daily News Hungary has republished a VSquare investigation with very strong accusations. The fact is also that VSquare says that these claims are based on telephone recordings obtained and verified by a consortium of investigative media. But it is equally true that the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, according to VSquare, did not respond to a request for comment on the details, and that so far we have no independent public institutional or judicial verification of the full authenticity and legal implications of these materials. So, politically the scandal is huge; legally, it still remains in the open.
But in politics, especially in European diplomacy, sometimes the greatest damage does not come from the formal verdict. It comes from doubt. And this investigation deepens precisely that: the doubt that Budapest is no longer playing with two chairs, but with two loyalties. One in Brussels, for formality. One in Moscow, for interest. If this is perceived as true by Hungary's partners, then Orbán and his people will find it increasingly difficult to present themselves as defenders of national sovereignty. Because they will be seen not as sovereignists, but as intermediaries of a foreign influence within Europe itself.
And this is where the scandal becomes bigger than Szijjártó himself. It affects the Orbán model. A model that is publicly sold as protecting Hungarian interests, but which is increasingly accused of functioning as a blocking mechanism in the service of an agenda that suits the Kremlin. If it turns out that the Hungarian Foreign Minister has actually become Lavrov's informant during EU meetings, then we no longer have just a reputational crisis for the Hungarian government. We have a political indictment of the entire role that Orbán has built for himself within Europe./ Pamphlet
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