Orbán's top opponent says Hungary's alleged Russian backchannel 'treason'
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The front-runner in Hungary's parliamentary election said on Monday that an alleged backchannel between Budapest and Moscow should be investigated as “treason" after the Washington Post reported that Hungary’s government has for years provided Russia with detailed information from EU Council meetings.
Péter Magyar, the main political opponent of Hungary's long-serving leader Viktor Orbán, said in a social media post that Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjárto “appears to be colluding with Russia, thereby betraying Hungarian and European interests."
“If confirmed, this would amount to treason, which carries a potential life sentence. A future TISZA government will immediately investigate the matter,” Magyar wrote.
Tisza is Hungary’s main opposition party that is currently ahead in the polls three weeks before parliamentary elections. Their victory would unseat Orbán's nationalist Fidesz party, which took power in 2010.
The Post, citing several current and former European security officials, found that Orbán’s government has long offered Moscow access to sensitive discussions within the European Union.
During breaks at EU meetings like last Thursday’s summit of the bloc’s 27 leaders, Szijjárto made regular phone calls to provide his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, with “live reports on what’s been discussed” and possible solutions, one of the European security officials said.