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The relationship between Orban's government and the Kremlin is back in the spotlight as Hungarians prepare to go to the polls this weekend, with polls showing Putin's closest ally in the EU could lose after 16 years.
In a phone call with Vladimir Putin in October, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he was ready to do everything possible to help the Russian president, including organizing a summit in Budapest to end the war in Ukraine. “Yesterday our friendship reached such a high level that I can help in any way,” Orban said, according to a transcript of their call at noon on Oct. 17, released by the Hungarian government and analyzed by Bloomberg.
" I can be useful in any matter, I am at your disposal ," Orban added, referring to Aesop's fable about a mouse that frees a lion caught in a net after the predator had previously released the rodent. The comment drew laughter from Putin, the agency reported.
“ I say the same thing to Trump ,” Orban told Bloomberg when asked about the debate and comparing Hungary’s role to that of a mouse: “ Size matters .”
The relationship between Orban's government and the Kremlin is back in the spotlight as Hungarians prepare to go to the polls this weekend, with polls showing Putin's closest ally in the EU could lose after 16 years.
Hungary opposes aid to Ukraine, while Orbán's election campaign portrays President Volodymyr Zelensky as an enemy of the state. The brief phone call between Orbán and Putin, and its contents, reported for the first time, show that aid to Russia is a policy that comes from the top of the government.
The two leaders spent much of the call expressing their appreciation for each other and for Donald Trump. Both had spoken to the US president the day before about a possible summit in Budapest, which ultimately did not take place. Trump has backed Orban, and US Vice President JD Vance visited Budapest on Thursday (7/4) as the election campaign enters its final phase. In the call, Orban described his friendship with Putin as stronger than it had been since he was born in St. Petersburg, the Russian leader's birthplace, in 2009.
“ The more friends we make, the more opportunities we have to resist our adversaries ,” Orban said, according to the transcript, which was confirmed by a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified. The Hungarian prime minister also expressed regret that he and Putin could not meet regularly in person, as they did before the Covid pandemic.
Putin then spoke pointedly about Hungary's "independent and flexible" stance in its war against Ukraine. " It is incomprehensible to us that such a balanced and middle position only creates counterarguments ," the Russian president said, according to the transcript.
The call comes after revelations that Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó regularly briefed Moscow on EU discussions and tried to remove the sister of a Russian billionaire from the bloc’s sanctions list. Szijjártó dismissed the story as the work of foreign intelligence agencies monitoring his calls and said it was no secret that he opposed the EU’s sanctions policy.
Opposition leader Peter Magyar, a former member of Hungary's ruling elite, has vowed to lead Hungary back into the European mainstream and away from Moscow if he wins Sunday's election. Meanwhile, Orban has made anti-Ukrainian rhetoric a central theme of his campaign.
The two men's call began with Orban wishing Putin, who turned 73 in early October, a happy birthday. It ended with the two leaders asking each other about their health. " I'm exercising, I'm skiing. I know you play football ," the Russian president said, according to the transcript. " I'm trying ," Orban replied, drawing laughter from both men. The Hungarian prime minister then thanked Putin and said goodbye in Russian.
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