Szijjarto’s films: how Hungary became a satellite of the Kremlin
фото: Reuters
A released audio recording of a conversation between the Foreign Ministers of Hungary and Russia, Peter Szijjarto and Sergey Lavrov, revealed facts of lobbying for the interests of the Kremlin’s entourage. The Hungarian side contributed to the exclusion of relatives of businessmen close to Putin from the European Union’s sanctions lists.
Political strategist Oleksiy Golobutsky analyzed these events on the air of “Pryamoy”, noting that such behavior fits into the model of functioning of the current Hungarian authorities.
“According to the calculations of certain economists, Orban and his mafia earn about half a billion dollars a year from this margin on Russian oil. This is huge money for Hungary,” the studio guest noted.
He is convinced that ideological proximity plays a secondary role here, giving way to pragmatic financial calculations: Russia not only receives constant political support within Europe, but also uses Hungary as a platform for the activities of its special services, while the top brass in Budapest secures stable profits from energy schemes.
At the same time, Golobutsky believes that the situation with the publication of the conversations is unlikely to significantly change the attitude of supporters of the current government within the country, since Hungary’s political system is showing signs of a deep authoritarian transformation, where electoral legislation has been rewritten in favor of the ruling party.
As a reminder,journalists recently released audio recordings and transcripts of conversations between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. According to the journalists, the conversation took place on August 30, 2024 – just an hour after Szijjarto returned to Budapest from St. Petersburg.
Lavrov then called the Hungarian minister with a request related to EU sanctions. The request was about Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who wanted to have his sister Gulbahor Ismailova removed from the sanctions list.
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