Whereas Orbán flaunts his shut ties with the Kremlin, his electoral rival, Péter Magyar, has argued this is an Achilles’ heel, accusing the federal government of “outright treason” over its ties to Moscow.
The December summit in Moscow was the sixteenth assembly of the Russian-Hungarian Intergovernmental Fee on Financial Cooperation (IGC), which in response to Russian state media was launched in 2005. The fee has met on a roughly annual foundation in both Russia or Hungary since then — with a break between the 14th assembly in November 2021 and the fifteenth in September 2024. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
In keeping with one of many paperwork, Russia and Hungary “addressed present problems with bilateral commerce and financial cooperation, joint actions within the power sector, business, well being care, agriculture, building, and different areas of mutual curiosity, in addition to within the cultural and humanitarian sphere” on the assembly in Moscow on Dec. 9, 2025. Additionally they underscored the significance of “growing long-term, mutually useful ties between the 2 international locations in areas of mutual curiosity.”
Requested concerning the contents of the paperwork and their ramifications for Hungary’s political trajectory, Szijjártó stated solely that “Hungary’s bilateral cooperation is guided by nationwide curiosity, not by any strain to adapt to the extraordinarily biased liberal mainstream media. Sustain the biased work!” Russia’s Ministry of International Affairs didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Oil, gasoline, nuclear
POLITICO contacted unbiased specialists acquainted with Moscow’s working strategies however couldn’t independently confirm the paperwork, which embody directions to Russian authorities departments on implementing the brand new commitments.
Among the many factors agreed, in response to the paperwork, was a dedication to “reverse the unfavorable pattern in bilateral commerce” after the switch of products fell because of the EU’s sanctions on Russia, carried out in response to Russia’s conflict in Ukraine. The settlement additionally opens the door to Russian corporations breaking floor on new electrical energy and hydrogen initiatives in Hungary and nearer cooperation on oil, gasoline and nuclear gasoline.
