Kremlin Hotline: How Hungary Coordinates With Russia Blocking Ukraine From the EU

* Budapest systematically weaponized the issue of Hungarian minority rights in Ukraine to stall EU accession negotiations.

* Péter Szijjártó offered Sergey Lavrov to send EU documents through the Hungarian Embassy in Moscow.

* Hungary and Slovakia, acting as Kremlin friends in the EU, pushed against restrictions of Russian energy supplies.

* Budapest also supported the Kremlin’s “achievements” of the Alaska Summit.

* Leaked audio reveals a strikingly deferential, submissive attitude from Szijjártó toward Lavrov.

* This is the second part of our investigation, you can find the first part here.

On December 14, 2023, at the European Council meeting in Brussels, EU leaders gathered to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. They faced strong opposition from one of their own: Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had threatened to veto the decision and used the issue as leverage in his disputes with Brussels over more than €22 billion in EU cohesion and recovery funds frozen due to Hungary’s rule-of-law violations.

Orbán, as usual, was accompanied by Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, who during one of the breaks went out of the meeting room to call his Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov.

“Peter, how are you? I’m doing good,” Lavrov greeted Szijjártó, who dutifully explained how negotiations were going and what Hungary’s plan for the meeting entailed. Lavrov certainly liked what he heard. “Ok, good, yes, yes, excellent,” the Russian said. “Sometimes good-willed direct blackmailing is the best option.”
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Viktor Orbán left the room during the vote on opening Ukraine’s EU accession talks, part of a pre-arranged move – Germany’s chancellor sent Orbán out of the room for coffee – that allowed the other 26 leaders to adopt the decision unanimously while Hungary abstained, and managed to save face. Szijjártó nevertheless stayed behind to witness the negotiations, keeping the Kremlin abreast with a near-contemporaneous play-by-play.

https://vsquare.org/kremlin-hotline-how-hungary-coordinates-with-russia-blocking-ukraine-from-the-eu/