Hungary coordinated actions with Russia to obstruct EU accession talks – media
Budapest systematically used the issue of Hungarian minority rights to obstruct Ukraine's EU accession negotiations while coordinating its actions with Moscow, investigative journalism network VSquare.org reported on Wednesday, citing records of conversations between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó dating from 2023 to 2025.
"During their numerous phone calls, Szijjártó provided Lavrov with an invaluable stream of information about how the supposedly united Western coalition was preparing to increase pressure on Russia to stop its aggressive war. Hungary, as always, offered itself to Russia as something of a fifth column in Brussels: Szijjártó always sought to contact Lavrov and turn to him for advice (or permission) to take actions detrimental to the EU and Ukraine but highly beneficial to Moscow. As one intelligence officer noted… their relationship more closely resembled that of a spy and a field agent than that of two equal foreign ministers," the investigation's article reads.
The investigation references, in particular, conversations between Lavrov and Szijjártó during the European Council session in Brussels on December 14, 2023, when accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova were launched; during Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's visit to Ukraine on July 2, 2024, ahead of the NATO summit in Washington; on June 22, 2025, following the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum; and others.
A transcript of a conversation between Lavrov and Szijjártó is cited, during which Lavrov asked about the compromise reached with the EU on launching Ukraine's accession negotiations and the decisive role of national minority language rights in that process.
"The main topic of concern for both foreign ministers was minority rights in Ukraine, long considered the Kremlin's pretext for justifying military action not only against one neighbor but anywhere ethnic Russians or Russian speakers reside. A few weeks before the July 2, 2024 call, diplomatic tensions between Hungary and the EU had reached a peak. Budapest was again blocking funding for Ukraine while the EU worked on mechanisms to bypass its veto. At stake was an 11-point list presented by Hungary regarding the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine's Zakarpattia region… We now have evidence that while Orbán and Szijjártó were officially fighting for the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry was conspiring with Lavrov to advance the cause of Russian minority rights in the country," the article states.
Szijjártó also discussed with Lavrov the European Commission's 2025 proposal to gradually phase out Russian energy imports to the EU, calling it "idiotic." From Orbán's perspective, the article notes, the proposal was not only a threat to Hungary's broader relations with Russia but also concerned the supply of raw materials and payment instruments that allowed continued gas purchases from Russia. In late June 2025, Szijjártó announced that Russia had extended a decree allowing Hungary to pay for gas through Hungarian OTP Bank.
Szijjártó also mentioned coordination with Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár and the struggle within the EU Council. In June 2025, Hungary and Slovakia blocked the EU's 18th sanctions package, claiming that parallel EU plans to cut Russian energy supplies threatened their energy security.
"The Szijjártó-Lavrov conversation reveals not just friendly contacts with Moscow, but once again a coordinated Budapest-Bratislava line that influenced decisions across the EU. Since EU sanctions require unanimity, even one country can block them. Hungary and Slovakia therefore exploited their position by linking the sanctions issue to the energy issue," the article reads.
