Thread by @panyiszabolcs

👀At @direkt36, we've investigated Viktor Orbán's shady deals with Putin's circles and found tons of worrying examples when Hungarian government decisions clearly benefited the Kremlin - even at the expense of Hungarian & EU/NATO interests.

🧵Thread👇
direkt36.hu/en/kemek-bizni…

2/ In 2010, Orbán's closest allies travelled to Moscow to pay an “introductory visit” at the FSB's HQ. Russian counterparts told that if Orbán's people need assistance in business matters, they can be “counted on” (reporting by @andraspe & @AndrasSzab). direkt36.hu/en/orban-jatsz…

3/ Orbán’s first truly spectacular move was when he decided on the Paks nuclear power plant extension. Instead of an open bidding procedure with U.S., French and South Korean companies, he awarded the contract to Rosatom - then came the problems...
direkt36.hu/en/addig-nyomu…

4/ Rosatom filed a faulty documentation for the new nuclear power plant in Hungary, but still wanted to start construction works without the necessary permits. This has created serious conflicts within the Orbán government. (Reporting by @AndrasSzab) direkt36.hu/en/igy-vivtak-…

5/ Side note: when State Secretary Attila Aszódi tried to block Russian attempts to "speed up" the nuclear power plant construction even without proper documentations and permits, he was targeted for surveillance with #Pegasus spyware, then got fired. direkt36.hu/en/az-orban-ko…

6/ Very likely one of the most infuriating example of Orbán's pro-Kremlin tendencies was when the Hungarian government helped Russia's Transmassholding win a lucrative procurement contract at the expense of a Hungarian bidder. (Reporting by @AndrasSzab) direkt36.hu/en/egy-magyar-…

7/ Hungary favored Transmashholding also when they decided to withdraw and relaunch a public procurement of suburban rail carriages as the Russian company was unable to bid due to not meeting procurement requirements. (Reporting by @andrasszab & me) direkt36.hu/en/lemaradtak-…

8/ While other Central European countries made cases public many times when they busted Russian intelligence operatives, Hungary simply asked Russian diplomats caught spying to return home in silence.

No expulsions, no confrontation with Russia. direkt36.hu/en/orosz-diplo…

9/ After the Skripal poisoning, Budapest and Moscow secretly played on the same side, and commanded the mutual expulsion of their diplomats in a way that they could avoid harming HU-RU relations.

Hungary banned a Russian diplomat who was already leaving.
direkt36.hu/en/latszolag-o…

10/ Orbán's government hindered a U.S. DEA operation against two Russian arms dealers. Vladimir Lyubishin and his son were to stand trial in New York City after their arrest in Hungary - but Orbán refused the U.S. extradition request in favor of Russia's. direkt36.hu/en/ket-orosz-f…

11/ It was the FSB that came to the help of the Russian arms dealers arrested in Hungary: the FSB "launched" a fake investigation against the Lyubishins, asked for their extradition in a copy-pasted document full of errors, then set them free eventually. direkt36.hu/en/tobb-sebbol…

@AndrasSzab *examples

12/ After the Orbán gov"t helped Russian arms dealers Vladimir Lyubishin Sr. and Jr. escape from U.S. justice by extraditing them to Moscow, they were set free after some time.

"I am happy with the decision, this is what we expected", their lawyers told.
direkt36.hu/en/szabadlabon…

13/ Orbán happily assisted in expanding Russia's foreign financial influence. Hungary joined the Russian-led International Investment Bank in 2015, became its second biggest stakeholder, then invited the bank to relocate their HQ to Budapest. (@AndrasSzab) direkt36.hu/en/buzgo-szere…

14/ International Investment Bank is actually Russian-dominated to its core. Russia’s second biggest financial institution, VTB Bank – whose leader, Andrey Kostin has close ties to Putin – has been granted a supervisory position within IIB. direkt36.hu/en/putyinhoz-b…

15/ The U.S. was concerned that the International Investment Bank – abusing the diplomatic immunities they are entitled to have – would send more Russian spies to Hungary. IIB chairman Nikolay Kosov is from a KGB family: his father was Budapest's KGB head. direkt36.hu/en/gyorsan-akt…