Close Hungarian-Russian contacts

According toThe Washington Post, the Hungarian minister allegedly called Russia during breaks between European Union meetings. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reportedly received near real-time updates on the proceedings.

Since the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022, Minister Szijjártó has made a total of 16 official visits to Russia. The most recent took place on March 4, when he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia is deeply involved in Hungary’s domestic politics. Reports have surfaced suggesting that Russian advisers proposed staging a failed assassination attempt on incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to boost his popularity ahead of the upcoming elections. The investigative outlet VSquare reports that Russian bots have been engaged in promoting Orbán’s campaign. The OSCE election observer in Hungary will be Daria Boyarskaya, a former interpreter for Vladimir Putin.

Russia and Hungary have drawn closer during Viktor Orbán’s second term, which has continued uninterrupted since 2010 (Orbán has held office for a total of 26 years). During this period, an agreement was signed for the import of Russian energy to Hungary, supplied through various intermediaries. Hungary imports approximately 60–70 percent of its crude oil from Russia, which accounts for about 15–20 percent of the country’s total energy mix.

Parliamentary elections in Hungary are scheduled for April 12. The opposition party TISZA is leading the ruling Fidesz in most independent polls. Opposition leader Péter Magyar does not share Viktor Orbán’s pro-Russian stance. Should TISZA win, we can expect shifts in Hungary’s foreign policy, particularly efforts to distance the country from Russia.