Where is Szijjártó? Hungarian minister to skip EU meeting after vanishing from public view

Published on 16/04/2026 - 11:39 GMT+2

Hungary’s outgoing overseas minister, Péter Szijjártó, volition skip adjacent week’s overseas affairs gathering successful Luxembourg pursuing the decision of Viktor Orbán’s government, EU diplomats told Euronews. His bureau did not respond to a petition for comment.

Yesterday, diplomats confirmed that outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán volition skip adjacent week's informal European Summit successful Cyprus.

Szijjártó was astatine the centre of contention during the run implicit his adjacent ties to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Leaked telephone calls suggested helium had offered to assistance region Russian businessmen from the EU sanctions database and had contacted Russian counterparts during a cardinal European acme successful 2023, erstwhile Ukraine’s accession talks were nether discussion.

Following Sunday’s elections resulting successful a landslide with Tisza, Szijjártó has mostly disappeared from nationalist view, including societal media wherever helium utilized to beryllium precise active.

On Monday, Hungary’s premier minister-elect, Péter Magyar, accused Szijjártó of shredding delicate documents related to Russia sanctions astatine the overseas ministry.

Magyar and his overseas affairs adviser, Anita Orbán, urged ministry unit to sphere each applicable files. The ministry rejected the claims connected Wednesday, saying lone insubstantial copies of physics files had been destroyed and nary information was lost.

Szijjártó faces scrutiny implicit concealed calls to Moscow

Péter Szijjártó’s adjacent ties to Moscow became a large run contented aft leaked transcripts and recorded telephone calls emerged.

In March, The Washington Post reported that Szijjártó had called Russian officials during breaks successful EU meetings successful Brussels. He disputed the timing, saying the calls took spot earlier and aft the meetings, and denied breaching immoderate rules calling it diplomatic engagement. Russia is the astir sanctioned state nether EU rules.

Later that month, a radical of investigative journalists published a signaling of a telephone betwixt Szijjártó and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, successful which the Hungarian curate offered to assistance unafraid the removal of a Russian businessman's sister from EU sanctions lists — astatine Lavrov's request.

In April, up of the wide election, a further leak alleged that Szijjártó had briefed Lavrov during a interruption astatine a cardinal EU acme successful Brussels successful December 2023, astatine which leaders were discussing the motorboat of Ukraine's accession talks. According to the recording, Lavrov projected that Szijjártó usage the juncture to use unit connected the EU.

Szijjártó dismissed the leaks arsenic the enactment of overseas quality services, accusing them of targeting past Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's authorities up of the vote.