Hungary's Szijjártó asked Russia's Lavrov to help Fico's party win elections in Slovakia

Hungarian opposition journalist Szabolcs Panyi has published a transcript of a conversation between Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, in which Szijjártó asked for assistance in securing a social-democratic victory in Slovakia's elections.

Source: Panyi on Facebook, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The conversation took place in February 2020.

According to the transcript, Szijjártó approached Russia's foreign minister for assistance ahead of Slovakia's elections, in the interests of the social-democratic-nationalist government led by then Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini.

"As you know, there are elections coming up in Slovakia on 29 February and it is of key importance to us that the coalition there would continue. I understand it may sound strange coming from Hungarian conservatives, but we are hoping for social democrats since they are the only rational force in the Slovak political landscape and the only ones who are acting without foreign interference," Szijjártó told Lavrov.

Notably, Peter Pellegrini, the current President of Slovakia, represented Slovakia's social democrats at the time of the conversation – the party of Robert Fico, who now leads the Slovak government. Pellegrini succeeded Fico as prime minister in 2018 amid mass protests following the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée.

"If the opposition wins, then it would be a tragedy for the Central European cooperation. It is also important that the speaker Danko's Slovak National Party cross the 5% threshold. We hope they manage it, but the only hope for the coalition to continue is when the ruling party wins elections. The prime minister Pellegrini was here yesterday and he told us that if your prime minister would host him even for half an hour, it would be of great help for winning the elections," Szijjártó continued.

In connection with this, the Hungarian minister asked his Russian counterpart to arrange a meeting between the Slovak and Russian prime ministers.

"It's quite a plea, but I'll pass it on to the PM," Lavrov responded.

Pellegrini's party went on to lose that election and ended up in opposition, and the Slovak National Party failed to enter parliament. However, Pellegrini has been President of the Slovak Republic since 2024.

According to Panyi, the conversation was recorded by a national security service of one of the European Union's member states.

The journalist published the transcript of Szijjártó's conversation with Lavrov following the publication of an article in the pro-government outlet Mandiner, which claimed that foreign intelligence services had allegedly gained access to the minister's phone calls with the help of opposition journalist Szabolcs Panyi, who works for Direkt36 and VSquare. Anita Orbán, who could become Hungary's foreign minister should the opposition Tisza party win, was also named as a "co-conspirator".

The article states that a "major intelligence operation" is being conducted against Péter Szijjártó.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that the alleged wiretapping of Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó would constitute "a serious attack against Hungary" and ordered an investigation – following the article making such claims in the pro-government outlet.

Background: Reports have emerged in the media that the EU is excluding Hungary from sensitive negotiations over concerns about information being leaked to Russia.

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