The former President of the European Commission believes Council President António Costa should exclude Hungary from confidential EU meetings if it fails to provide adequate clarifications over the incident.
José Manuel Barroso, former president of the European Commission, said allegations that Hungary shared confidential information with Russia during EU meetings are "very disturbing and greatly concerning".
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In an interview on Euronews' flagship morning programme 'Europe Today', Barroso stressed the importance of "sincere cooperation among member states".
He added that Budapest should first make clear the extent of its contact with the Kremlin, adding that if the clarification "is not sufficient," then European Council President António Costa should move to exclude Hungary "in some matters".
Up until now, the clarifications "provided so far by the Hungarian government are not really clarifications," said the former EU chief.
Hungary's Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó admitted a few days ago after media reports emerged that he regularly speaks on the phone with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. The contacts have happened "before and after" Brussels meetings, said Budapest's top diplomat.
According to Szijjártó, these contacts are “completely normal” and “standard practice”, though discussions in such meetings are understood to be confidential.
Szijjártó noted that he had briefed not only Russia but also Turkey, Israel, Serbia, and the United States, something Barroso described as "quite strange" as it puts Budapest and Washington "at the same level".
For Barroso, this "raises very important matters of loyalty among member states".
But this might not be the first time Hungary is in the spotlight for such incidents. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk had previously revealed that Lithuania requested the exclusion of a Hungarian delegation from a NATO meeting as early as 2019, amid fears that it may have shared classified information to Moscow.
Russia is heavily sanctioned by the EU over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and most member states have cut or drastically reduced ties with Moscow. The European Commission has also called on Hungary to clarify the contacts.
"The reports regarding the Hungarian foreign minister allegedly disclosing to his Russian counterpart the closed-door ministerial-level discussions in the Council are greatly concerning," said a spokesperson for the European executive on Monday.
While the bloc can take legal measures against countries violating the duty of sincere cooperation, Barroso outlined that a political or diplomatic approach might be more favourable.
"We can always show to a country that behaves not respecting the basic principles of decency that the countries can move on politically as well", he told Euronews.