Szijjártó regularly reported to Lavrov during EU meetings - WP
Kyiv • UNN
The Hungarian Foreign Minister conveyed details of secret EU discussions to the Kremlin. Russian hackers also had full access to the Hungarian ministry's networks.
Viktor Orbán's government has long provided the Kremlin with access to closed discussions within the EU. This is reported by The Washington Post, citing several current and former European security officials, writes UNN.
Details
The information leak occurred both through direct contacts of high-ranking Hungarian officials and through the penetration of Russian hackers into the computer networks of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Former head of the Hungarian cyber defense service Ferenc Fresh confirmed the facts of successful cyberattacks by Russia.
According to European intelligence, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó regularly called his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov during breaks at EU meetings. In such conversations, he provided "direct reports" on the progress of discussions and the consideration of possible decisions.
One of the security officials noted that due to such actions, Moscow was effectively present at the negotiating table at every European Union meeting for years.
Szijjártó himself has made 16 official visits to Moscow since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The last such trip took place on March 4 this year, during which the Hungarian minister met with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. The head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry has not yet provided any comments on the published information about the transfer of secret data to the Kremlin.