Hungary Has Become Europe's Toseles Stop — Everyone Knows It Exists, But Nobody Wants to Stop There

It turns out that in the European Union's diplomatic world, Hungary has become the real Toseles stop — everyone knows where it is, but nobody wants to stop there. Péter Szijjártó, Hungary's foreign minister, has been feeding Sergey Lavrov detailed information about EU meetings for years, effectively making Moscow a silent participant in every discussion happening in Brussels.

As anonymous European officials tell it, the situation has become so awkward that diplomats have started organizing smaller groups to avoid Hungary's presence. It's like organizing a private party but not inviting that friend who always tells everything to his ex-girlfriend. Former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis revealed that already at the 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius, diplomats were trying to exclude Hungary from delicate discussions.

"We spoke only formally, but later, leaving Hungary aside, we discussed the summit's real objectives," Landsbergis recounted. It's like a conversation by the coffee machine when colleagues wait for the boss to leave so they can say what they really think about the latest agenda item.

Meanwhile, Viktor Orbán continues to behave like that one person at the party who can't read between the lines. He blocks a 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine and maintains cordial relations with Moscow, while the rest of Europe tries to figure out how to innocently not tell him what's really happening. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has already announced that he speaks at EU meetings "only when absolutely necessary" due to suspicions of information leaks. In Riga they'd say about such a situation — "well, what's new?", but in Liepāja we'd simply smile and continue enjoying the sea breeze.