You probably know that in recent weeks, the audio recording and transcript of a phone conversation between Hungary's Foreign Minister Szijjártó and Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov were published in European media resources.
In the phone conversation, which took place immediately after a closed meeting of the European Union press, Lavrov asks his Hungarian colleague about the outcome of the promise given regarding the lifting of sanctions against the sister of the Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov. (Later, indeed, thanks to the efforts of Hungary and Slovakia, the sanctions on Gulbahor Usmanova are lifted).
The Washington Post published an article stating that the Orban government has been regularly providing Moscow with information about the closed meetings of the European Union and the meetings of European leaders for many years.
Today, Bloomberg agency published material based on the audio recording of the phone conversation between Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin dated October 17, 2025. They discuss organizing the meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest. Orban tells Putin: “...Our friendship has reached such a high level that I am ready to help you as much as I can. In any matter, wherever I can be of help to you, I am at your service...”
Here, Orban compares himself to the mouse that helps the lion in a famous fable. Aesop’s fable goes that when the lion is asleep, it feels a mouse moving on its body and wakes up to catch it. The mouse begs, “Don't kill me, I might be able to help you someday.” The lion laughs, "How could you possibly help me?" and lets the mouse go. One day hunters catch the lion and tie it to a tree with ropes. Hearing the lion’s roar, the mouse comes and gnaws through the ropes, freeing the lion...
In their phone conversation, Orban and Putin also praise Trump. While Putin expresses admiration for Trump’s “advancing like a tank,” Orban likens the US president to a storm.
This event once again shows that the election in Hungary has turned into a struggle between the global authoritarian-conservative coalition (Putin, Trump, Netanyahu, and others) and the liberal democratic pole (Western Europe, Britain, the democratic wing of the US state, etc.). The former try to strengthen Orban’s positions (for example, today US Vice President Pence visited Hungary), while the latter, on the contrary, aim to further discredit Orban by publicizing evidence that reinforces the opinion that he is a puppet of Putin.
Şahin Cəfərli,
political scientist