Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Monday he has ordered an investigation after media reports that Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó passed sensitive information to Russia.
Orbán wrote on Facebook that “the wiretapping of a government member is a serious attack on Hungary” and said he had instructed the justice minister to examine the matter immediately. The post used the word “wiretapping,” although the original news report did not allege electronic surveillance.
The Washington Post article, which Szijjártó dismissed as “fake news” and “senseless conspiracy theories,” cited unnamed current and former EU security officials who said Szijjártó regularly phoned Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during breaks in EU meetings to relay what had been discussed and to suggest responses for Moscow. The Post did not allege Szijjártó was wiretapped; it accused him of deliberately briefing Lavrov.
The European Commission called the allegations “deeply concerning,” demanded clarification and an investigation, but stopped short of treating the claims as proven. Commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said a relationship of trust between member states and EU institutions is fundamental to the Union’s work and that Hungary was expected to provide explanations.
A German Foreign Ministry spokesman described the claims as “very serious,” stressing that negotiations among EU foreign ministers are confidential and that those principles should not be violated. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the report “shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone,” adding that suspicions about Hungary’s stance have long affected how he participates in EU meetings.
The story arrives as Hungary heads into a tightly fought election in which Orbán faces a strong challenge from Peter Magyar, a former ally. It also comes amid a dispute in which Orbán has tried to block or delay a proposed €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine, pressing for a resumption of oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline as leverage. European leaders have accused Orbán of using Ukraine aid as electoral leverage; Orbán counters that the EU is trying to meddle in Hungary’s elections as he seeks a fifth term.
Hungary, a member of both the EU and NATO, has maintained unusually close ties to Moscow since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Szijjártó, one of the bloc’s longest-serving foreign ministers, has held the post since 2014.
Orbán’s instruction to the justice minister starts an official probe; Brussels and several member states have urged transparency and swift clarification as the allegations are examined.