The European Union is gradually sidelining Hungary from the most sensitive foreign policy discussions and restricting Budapest’s access to confidential information. This was reported by Politico, citing five European diplomats and officials.
According to them, distrust of Viktor Orbán’s Hungarian government has reached a level where key meetings and discussions are increasingly being held in smaller formats — without Hungary’s participation. Instead of sessions with all 27 EU member states, leaders are preferring smaller like-minded groups (such as the Weimar Triangle — France, Germany, and Poland), where the risk of leaks is minimized.
The trigger for tightening this “quarantine” was reporting by The Washington Post, which alleged that Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó regularly briefed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the progress of EU discussions during breaks in meetings. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk openly stated that Warsaw had “long harbored suspicions” that Hungary was passing information to Moscow.
One European official explained to the outlet: “Concerns that confidential information from Brussels could be reaching the Kremlin in near real time forced us to change our meeting formats.” However, no formal decision to exclude Hungary has been taken — Brussels fears that any high-profile move could influence Hungary’s parliamentary elections scheduled for April 12.
Budapest categorically rejects the accusations. Minister for European Affairs János Bóka called the reports “fake news” and a “desperate attempt” to prevent a Fidesz victory in the elections. Opposition leader Péter Magyar, by contrast, described Szijjártó’s alleged actions as “high treason.”
The situation is unfolding against the backdrop of the ongoing dispute over the Druzhba pipeline, Hungary’s blocking of €90 billion in aid to Ukraine, and Budapest’s regular vetoes of new sanctions against Russia — all of which are only deepening Hungary’s isolation within the EU.
So far, no official comment has been received from the European Commission or the European Council regarding the diplomatic “quarantine” of Hungary.