On the news that Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó during breaks in the EU negotiations, he regularly informed the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, about their progress, according to Czech Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček you have to watch from a distance, as there will be elections in Hungary soon. He added that he does not attach much importance to the whole matter at the moment. He said this on Monday at a press conference after the government meeting, reports TASR in Prague.
“Just because a newspaper in the United States writes it doesn’t mean it’s true. I don’t know if it is, but it’s an election and we take all this information with a grain of salt.” said Havlíček, adding that based on the description from the media, it seems infantile to him.
“If someone really wanted to give someone some information from the Council – although I’m convinced that foreign intelligence can arrange it in other ways – then I don’t expect that he will do it in front of witnesses and even on the grounds of the European Commission, the European Parliament or somewhere in the EU, but he would probably do it in a different way… And dust I don’t attach any great weight at this point purely because I can’t judge it,” added the minister.
Journalists then asked him if it was appropriate, that in such a situation Prime Minister Andrej Babiš or other members of the Czech government support Prime Minister Viktor Orbán before the Hungarian parliamentary elections. According to Havlíček it is normal for parties that are together, for example, in factions in the European Parliament, to support each other in this way.
When asked about the position of the Czech Republic and Hungary on foreign policy, Havlíček pointed out that The Czech Republic and Budapest have the same view on energy or migration policy within the EU and not on Moscow. “We do not go to Russia, we do not support Putin, we have never negotiated with him. But there are 27 countries in the EU, we respect each of them… It is difficult for us to influence whether the person in question will go to Moscow or anywhere else,” the minister added, saying that everyone should evaluate the Hungarian government’s individual steps for themselves.
On Saturday (March 20), The Washington Post newspaper, citing a European security official, wrote that During breaks in the EU negotiations, Szijjártó regularly called the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, to provide him with reports on their progress and to propose possible solutions. The European Union finds the news very worrying.
Szijjártó described the claims in the article as lies. According to Hungarian Minister for EU Affairs János Bóka it is a desperate reaction to the fact that Orbán’s Fidesz party is gaining strength in the election campaign. However, according to him, the Hungarians will not be fooled.
