France accuses Hungary of ‘betrayal of solidarity’ over leaked call with Russian foreign minister – Europe live

France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, condemns call in which Hungary’s Péter Szijjártó appeared to offer to share documents about Ukrainian EU accession

But Hungary’s embattled prime minister Viktor Orbán rejected suggestions of close proximity to Russia, telling a rally that “it was not the Russians, but the US vice-president who visited Hungary” to endorse him this week.

In a clip from a recent rally, published by his international spokesperson, Zoltán Kovács, Orbán insisted that Hungary remains part of the west, but is “hurt by what we see is happening to western Europe.”