Last month’s meeting between Viktor Orban, leader of Hungary’s main opposition Fidesz party, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was a “constructive and interesting” discussion, Russian Ambassador to Hungary Aleksandr Tolkats said in an interview published in the online issue of the daily Nepszabadsag on Sunday.
Tolkats said that contrary to allegations in the Hungarian press, the thirty-minute meeting had been held in an official setting, rather than “on the corridor”.
Concerning relations between Hungary and Russia, the ambassador said that they were very good and constructive; “perhaps the best among all countries in the central and eastern European region”.
After a Fidesz announcement on November 21 that Orban had met Putin in St. Petersburg, the spokesman of the ruling Socialist Party voiced doubts over the meeting.
“It seems certain that Orban did not meet Putin in official circumstances. There is no video footage, photos or other evidence from Russian or diplomatic sources,” Istvan Nyako said at the time.
