Scandal in Hungary. Tusk asks Nawrocki and Kaczyński about support for Orban

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared to Vladimir Putin that he is at his service in every matter; Do you support Orban in this too? – Prime Minister Donald Tusk asked President Karol Nawrocki and PiS president Jarosław Kaczyński with this question.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban assured Russian leader Vladimir Putin in October that he was “at his disposal on any matter.” The agency cited a government transcript of a telephone conversation between the two leaders.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk referred to this information in an entry on the X platform.

“Orban declared to Putin that he is at his service on every issue,” Tusk emphasized. In this context, the head of government asked the president and the chairman of PiS: “do you support Orban in this too?”

Viktor Orban reacted to the entry of the head of the Polish government on X. “Dear Donald Tusk. It's true. I talked with President Putin about ending the war and organizing a US-Russia peace summit in Budapest,” he wrote. “What have you done for peace?” – the head of the Hungarian government asked Tusk.

Orban told Putin he was ready to help the Russian leader “on any issue,” including ending the war in Ukraine by organizing a summit of U.S. and Russian leaders in Budapest. “Our friendship has reached such a high level that I can help in any way I can,” Orban said. “In any matter where I can help, I am at your disposal,” Orban said, as quoted by Bloomberg.

The politicians spent much of the conversation expressing appreciation for each other, as well as for US President Donald Trump. The two had talked to him the day before about a potential meeting in Budapest, which ultimately did not take place, Bloomberg reported. Hungary is one of the few, and “perhaps the only” European country that was an acceptable place for the meeting of U.S. and Russian leaders, Putin said. He added that he agreed with Trump's assessment that it was a suitable location because Orban was a friend of both of them.

“The more friends we make, the greater opportunities we will have to oppose our opponents,” Orban told Putin. “It is incomprehensible to us that such a balanced, moderate position only generates counter-arguments,” Putin said, referring to Budapest's attitude towards the war in Ukraine unleashed by Moscow.

Orban and Putin spoke by phone on March 3; The Russian leader then praised Hungary for its “principled stance” towards Ukraine.

At the end of March, investigative portals VSquare, FRONTSTORY, Delfi Estonia, The Insider and Centrum Śledcze im. Jan Kuciak (ICJK) published records of conversations between Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Szijjarto and representatives of the Russian authorities: Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Deputy Minister of Energy Pavel Sorokin. During the talks, Szijjarto agreed on efforts to remove Russian citizens indicated by the Kremlin from the EU sanctions list and on forms of opposition to the sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia. At the end of the conversation with Lavrov, Shijjarto assured him that he was “always at the disposal” of Russia.

Parliamentary elections will be held in Hungary on Sunday, April 12. In most independent polls, Orban's Fidesz party is ahead of the opposition TISHA. Opinion surveys by centers linked to the government indicate that Orbán's party has an advantage of several percentage points. (PAP)

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