Orbán says he sees nothing wrong with being willing to be "Putin's mouse"

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said he sees nothing "compromising" in the details of a conversation he had with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin which has been published by the media.

Source: Index, citing Orbán on the Blikk Talk programme on 8 April, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Orbán was asked in an interview to comment on the controversy surrounding the leaked conversation with the Russian ruler in which, drawing on the fable of the mouse and the lion, he said he was willing to be "Putin's mouse".

Orbán said the very friendly tone of the conversation between the leaders was nothing unusual, describing it as a "normal formula" for communication.

Quote: "We have relationships with the president of the United States, with many European leaders, with the president of Russia and the leaders of some Central Asian countries, in which we call one another friends – and even with some leaders of Muslim countries... I would not see anything special in that."

More details: Asked how he would react if a recording were leaked of a similar conversation between, for example, his rival Péter Magyar and Manfred Weber (a German MEP from the European People's Party), Orbán sidestepped the question by declaring that Hungary "does not wiretap political opponents", and that Hungarian intelligence services are now trying to establish how the press had got hold of the transcript of his conversation with Putin.

Background: VSquare, a European investigative journalism project, has published a new report detailing how Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó coordinated with Russia on blocking Ukraine's path to EU membership and other similar moves.

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