Krystyna Kazakova21:44, 10.08.26

5 min.662

Only friendly media were invited to the press conference so that Szijjártó would not receive awkward questions.

At press conferences by former Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, instead of media representatives, MFA employees were present, posing as journalists and creating the impression of a full hall, 444 reports , citing its own sources.

The publication said that only friendly media were invited to the press conference so that Szijjártó, standing next to his colleague, would not receive awkward questions.

The article states that the former Hungarian Foreign Minister was not as big a supporter of press freedom as he liked to claim abroad.

“They took great care to ensure that, since most of the press was excluded from the “press conferences” from the very beginning, there were no empty seats in the hall,” the publication notes.

In particular, sources who worked in Szijjártó’s former ministry told the publication that the Cabinet of Ministers sent a letter to the heads of departments informing them that in a few days, Péter Szijjártó would hold a joint press conference with his foreign partner in the conference room, and that the employees of the said departments and their departments were respectfully invited to this event by this letter.

“At first glance, this might even seem like a pleasant invitation – suddenly someone has nothing better to do than work,” the publication notes.

However, the letter also stated how many people were expected at the event, and asked managers to let them know in advance who would be attending the event.

Two staff members said they had to fill the 50-60-seat hall. An important requirement was that everyone had to be in their seats half an hour before the start, so that “by the time Szijjártó arrived, everyone was already sitting in complete silence.” And at the end of the press conference, “no one was allowed to stand up until Szijjártó had left the hall.”

In many organizational units, this is how it happened: managers asked if anyone was interested in the event, for example, because the topic directly related to their field of activity. 

It is explained that if no one volunteered or there were not enough of them, then the appointment took place.

Another employee said that they had a rotation system. Since Szijjártó held several press conferences every week at the ministry, he also had to go there about once every two weeks.

The article explains that several representatives of the invited friendly press and the minister’s entourage did not fill even a third or half of the 50–60 seats, but it was necessary to create the impression that interest in the event was enormous.

“So when the camera showed the hall, an accountant could appear there, an employee who is not responsible for this region or industry at all, or a soft-hearted deputy secretary of state who on Friday afternoon did not want to quarrel even with his subordinate and came to the press conference himself,” the article says.

At the same time, there were few press representatives there, because independent editorial offices, which could disrupt the event with their questions, were not invited. 

“It often happened that there was only one journalist there – from MTI. Once I witnessed a colleague from the press department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs telling him what exactly to ask,” said one of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs employees.

The publication pointed out that, nevertheless, there was always one constant participant at such events: Gyula Budai, who until recently held the position of Minister Plenipotentiary to Szijjártó and was responsible for measures to protect the economy, necessary due to the challenges associated with sanctions.

Investigation against Szijjarto: what is known

UNIAN previously reported that an investigation was initiated in Hungary against Peter Szijjarto after a public figure Istvan Tenyi’s statement about possible bribery. The reason for this was the new appointment of a former official at the Chinese car manufacturer BYD. Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar suggested that Szijjarto’s appointment to a management position at the global giant BYD could be a public “thank you” for his assistance in the construction of the automaker’s plant in Szeged when he was a minister. The prosecutor’s office explained that such actions could fall under the article on obtaining an unlawful benefit in the interests of a business organization. If Szijjarto is found guilty, he faces a sentence of imprisonment for up to three years.

We also wrote that Hungary is investigating the former Hungarian foreign minister’s ties to Russia. Szijjártó has been under scrutiny since recordings leaked earlier this year in which he briefed his Russian counterpart on meetings in the European Union and offered to help ease EU sanctions against Moscow. In a leaked recording of a phone call between Szijjártó and Sergey Lavrov, the Hungarian minister can be heard asking his Russian counterpart for arguments to use at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers. Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has said that the recordings appear to indicate Szijjártó’s treason.

(C)UNIAN 2026