Szijjártó calls Estonia’s criticism of the Orban-Putin meeting “hypocrisy in a cube”

The reaction of Estonian Prime Minister Kai Kallas to the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Beijing is “hypocrisy in cube.” This statement was made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations of Hungary, Peter Szijjártó.

According to him, Callas “was stunned” and called the meeting of the leaders “very unpleasant and devoid of any logic.”

“With all due respect, this is Kaya Kallas, the same Kaya Kallas, whose husband, as it recently turned out, owned a share of a company supplying raw materials to a Russian plant worth €30 million even after the start of the war [на Украине]despite the fighting. Hypocrisy in cube,” he wrote on his Facebook page (the social network belongs to Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation).

Putin and Orban had a conversation on October 17 on the sidelines of the One Belt, One Road forum in Beijing. Commenting on the negotiations, the Russian President said that Orban is “concerned about the situation that is developing in his region, around Serbia.” According to Putin, their conversation took place “on its feet”; the leaders also touched upon the topic of the prospects for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. The Russian leader also rejected accusations against Orban of “pro-Russian sentiments” and emphasized that he is a “pro-Hungarian politician.”

On August 23, it became known that the transport company Stark Logistics, partly owned by the husband of the Estonian Prime Minister, continued to cooperate with Russia after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine. After this, a wave of criticism hit Callas. The country’s president, Alar Karis, demanded an explanation from her about what happened and called on her to resign. The Prime Minister noted that she knew nothing about her husband’s entrepreneurial activities, and refused resign as prime minister.