Hungary foreign minister \u2018always at Russia\u2019s disposal\u2019; Fidesz\u2019s rural vote buying exposed<\/p>\n
As the Hungarian election campaign enters the final stretch, polarisation is growing both at home and abroad. A taped telephone call between Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto\u00a0and his Russian counterpart\u00a0Sergey Lavrov\u00a0was leaked<\/a> to an international consortium of investigative journalists. In the conversation, Szijjarto\u00a0comes across as a true servant of the Kremlin, appearing eager to carry out whatever the Russian government asks of him. \u201cI am always at your disposal,\u201d Szijjarto\u00a0said at the end of the conversation, which centres around the EU sanctions affecting the sister of Russian oligarch Usmanov, known as one of Putin\u2019s favourite businessmen. Lavrov asks Szijjarto to remove the sister from the EU sanctions list, which he promises to pursue at the EU level. \u201cWe will do our best in order to get her off,\u201d Szijjarto says. Indeed, the woman was delisted seven months after the conversation. Investigative news outlet VSquare also wrote Szijjarto was in regular contact with Russian Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin and informed him about details of high-level EU discussions on upcoming sanction packages. Szijjarto promised to \u201csave as many Russian companies as possible\u201d. The report confirms widespread suspicions that Hungary has been leaking confidential EU information to Russia.<\/p>\n The leaked phone call has had international repercussions. Czech President\u00a0Petr Pavel urged<\/a> Prague to reconsider its relations with the Hungarian government, especially when it comes to sharing sensitive information. Polish PM\u00a0Donald Tusk\u00a0sniped<\/a> that, \u201cHungary is and will be in the European Union. Victor Orban and his foreign minister left Europe long ago.\u201d Szijjarto inevitably lashed out against the unnamed foreign intelligence services that had wiretapped his conversation and then leaked it less than two weeks before the election. \u201cThis is foreign interference,\u201d he said on Facebook<\/a>. The leaked phone call appears to be only the first in a series that could be published before the April 12 election. It also suggests European intelligence services \u2013 possibly behind the recordings \u2013 are willing to share classified or confidential information with the international and Hungarian media. Szijjarto is one of the three leading politicians heading the Fidesz party\u2019s campaign, alongside PM Viktor Orban and Transport Minister Janos Lazar.<\/p>\n