Brussels expects clarification from Budapest regarding the possible transfer of information about closed discussions from EU Council meetings at the ministerial level to Moscow, as stated by European Commission spokesperson Anita Hipper during a briefing on Monday, writes UNN.
Reports that the Hungarian Foreign Minister allegedly disclosed information about a closed discussion at the ministerial level in the EU Council to his Russian counterpart are of serious concern, and trusting relations between member states and between them and the institution are fundamental to the work of the EU, and we expect the Hungarian government to provide clarification.
When asked whether the European Commission could confirm reports that the flow of information to Hungary had been reduced, and whether European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was surprised by the reports regarding Hungary, after Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk indicated that he was not surprised, European Commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta stated that "the President is in Australia, so I'm not sure she has seen these reports yet, and I'm not going to comment on what Tusk."
"I mean, we are, of course, in constant contact with all our member states. We have a huge number of topics on which we coordinate daily with our member states, and that, of course, includes Hungary," Podesta noted.
At the same time, in response to a clarification, she noted that "in general, of course, there are rules regarding different levels of document secrecy. There are different levels of restrictions in EU systems, and different levels of restrictions have different requirements. (...) Of course, yes, we sometimes have secret documents that institutions work with."
Recall
On Saturday, WP reported that the Orbán government had maintained close contacts with Moscow throughout the war in Ukraine, and Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó used breaks during meetings with other member states to brief his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
Szijjártó regularly reported to Lavrov during EU meetings - WP21.03.26, 20:41
Politico subsequently reported that the EU is restricting the flow of sensitive information to Hungary, and leaders are meeting in smaller groups amid warnings from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk about long-standing suspicions that Viktor Orbán's government is sharing information with Russia.