'Outrageous' - Szijjarto condemns Tisza-linked 'journalist' over alleged 'wiretapping' for foreign intelligence

"Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on Monday accused an unnamed Tisza-linked reporter of helping foreign intelligence 'eavesdrop' on his phone conversations. "It is shocking that one or more foreign secret services eavesdropped with the active participation of a Hungarian journalist," Szijjarto said in a video address from an undisclosed location. "What is outrageous is that this Hungarian journalist, who maintains an active relationship with foreign services, belongs to the innermost circles of the Tisza party. This Hungarian journalist [...] is a friend of Anita Orban (Tisza chief of foreign policy)," Szijjarto claimed. Hungarian media on Monday reported receiving an email alleging that a journalist, believed to have ties with opposition party Tisza, gave Szijjarto's personal contact to the "secret service of an EU member state" to wiretap his phone communications. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has since ordered a probe into the allegations. "This Hungarian journalist, who maintains an active relationship with foreign services, could decide who gets to work in a Tisza party ministry of foreign affairs [...] This shows how a pro-Ukrainian ministry of foreign affairs of a pro-Ukrainian government would be built up," Szijjarto noted. "We will not give up the Hungarian national interest. We will continue to fight so that they cannot drag Hungary into a war [...] on April 12, Hungarians can decide whether they want to live in peace and security," he underlined. The remarks follow reports published on Saturday alleging that Szijjarto may have shared details of EU discussions with Russia over several years, claims both Budapest and the foreign minister have denied. It comes against the backdrop of an ongoing row between Hungary and the EU, with PM Viktor Orban reaffirming his opposition to a 90-billion-euro EU loan package for Ukraine, while accusing Kiev of blocking fuel supplies to Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline for 'political' reasons."

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