Tusk’s comment came after the Washington Post report raised new questions about whether sensitive information from EU Council meetings has been reaching Moscow, according to the newspaper’s account of information shared with Russia. In a message posted on X, Tusk said Poland “had our suspicions” about Hungary’s conduct “for a long time,” adding that his approach in EU discussions is meant to limit what he believes could be disclosed.
Tusk said that one reason he manages his participation in EU meetings is that he “take[s] the floor only when strictly necessary and say[s] just as much as necessary.” In the same exchange, he said, “The news that Orbán’s people inform Moscow about EU Council meetings in every detail shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone,” framing the comments as consistent with what Poland had already suspected.
The Washington Post report, cited by Tusk’s response, said it found that the Hungarian government under Viktor Orban has, for years, provided Russia with detailed information from European Union Council meetings, according to current and former European security officials. The allegation further described a pattern tied to foreign minister outreach, which the report said involved calls during meetings.
The Post reported that Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó regularly called Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during breaks in EU council meetings, providing “direct reports on what was discussed” and “possible solutions.” Tusk’s post adopted that framing and said it should not surprise Polish officials, using the suspicions he said Poland held as the context for his stance.
Szijjártó responded on X, calling Tusk’s comments “fake news” and saying Tusk was “telling lies” as part of an effort to support the Tisza Party in Hungary. Szijjártó said, “You are telling lies in order to support Tisza Party to have a pro-war puppet government in Hungary. You will not have it!” Tisza is Hungary’s main opposition party and is ahead in the polls about three weeks before parliamentary elections, according to the report.
The dispute comes amid already tense relations between Poland and Hungary, which the Associated Press said have been strained over Budapest’s blocking of EU aid to Ukraine and Hungary’s close ties to Russia. With the allegations centering on potential information-sharing from EU deliberations to Russia, both countries’ leaders have been publicly contesting the claims while political disagreements within the bloc continue.