European Commission asks Hungary to clarify statements regarding possible transfer of data to Russia
The European Commission is awaiting official clarification from Budapest regarding reports that Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó allegedly briefed the Russian side on the proceedings of closed-door EU Council meetings.
According to Censor.NET, citing Interfax-Ukraine, European Commission spokesperson for foreign policy Anitta Hipper announced this on Monday in Brussels during a briefing.
According to her, reports of the possible disclosure of closed-door ministerial discussions are causing serious concern.
The issue of trust among EU member states
The European Commission emphasized that trust between EU member states and the institutions is key to the Union’s effective functioning.
Brussels expects the Hungarian government to provide an explanation regarding these reports.
At this time, the European Commission has not provided any further details and stated that the situation is currently under investigation.
What preceded it?
The Washington Post reported that Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó regularly called his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, during breaks in EU meetings.
Later, Politico reported that the European Union was excluding Hungary from discussions on sensitive issues due to the risk of information leaks to Russia.
