Leaked Lavrov call puts Hungary’s FM at center of new Moscow scandal
Journalists published a conversation between Lavrov and Szijjártó (Photo: Screenshot of the conversation transcript / VSquare)
Journalists have published a recording of a conversation
between Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s
foreign minister, as VSquare
released the audio amid a scandal over the possible sharing with Moscow of
details from closed-door EU talks.
According to the journalists, just an hour after Szijjártó
arrived in Budapest from St. Petersburg on Aug. 30, 2024, Lavrov called him. He
reminded Szijjártó that Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov wanted his sister,
Gulbakhor Ismailova, removed from the EU sanctions list, and Szijjártó promised
to help. Usmanov is described as one of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s
favored businessmen, and the two have “especially close ties,” the outlet
wrote.
“Listen, I’m calling at Alisher’s request, and he just asked
me to remind you that you are doing something about his sister,” Lavrov said.
Szijjártó replied: “Yes, of course. The thing is, together
with the Slovaks, we are submitting a proposal to the European Union to remove
her [Ismailova] from the list. We will submit it next week, and since a new
review period will begin, this issue will be put on the agenda, and we will do
everything possible to have her removed from the list.”
Before hanging up, Szijjártó spoke about Gazprom’s new
headquarters, which he had visited in Russia.
“I’m always at your service,” he added.
Seven months later, Ismailova was removed from the EU
sanctions list.
The transcripts and audio recordings of the conversations
between Lavrov and Szijjártó were obtained and verified by an investigative
news consortium that includes VSquare, FRONTSTORY, Delfi Estonia, The Insider
and the Ján Kuciak Investigative Center.
Szijjártó responded on Facebook
to the report, saying he had known for some time that “foreign intelligence services
— in active cooperation with Hungarian journalists — are wiretapping” his phone
calls.
“Today, the ‘intelligence officers’ made another ‘important
discovery’: they proved that I say the same thing in public as I do on the
phone ... Great job!” Hungary’s foreign minister wrote.
Szijjártó argued that “the sanctions policy has failed; it
causes more harm to the EU than to Russia.” He said he “regularly consults and
has consulted with the foreign ministers of many non-EU countries regarding
sanctions measures.”
On March 23, Hungarian investigative journalist Szabolcs
Panyi published a transcript indicating that in 2020, during a conversation
with Lavrov, Szijjártó asked him to help the Social Democratic Party win
elections in Slovakia. At the time, the party was led by Peter Pellegrini.
On March 21, The Washington Post, citing its own sources,
reported that Szijjártó had regularly briefed Moscow on the course of European
Union meetings.
The military war may be swinging in our favor, but the information war continues.
Just as an army needs soldiers, so does a free society need its journalists to ensure that people have access to honest, trustworthy voices to understand the world around them.
For the past five years, The New Voice of Ukraine has been working tirelessly to push back against Russian narratives and defend democracy. But we cannot do it alone.
Please consider supporting us on Patreon for just $5 a month – your donation does directly to supporting journalists and ensuring that this front of the infowar says solid and defended.
Thank you.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
