Gaspar Disputes Reports of Szijjarto Arranging Pellegrini's 2020 Moscow Visit

Hronske Klacany, 24 March (TASR) - House vice-chair Tibor Gaspar (Smer-SD) said ahead of Tuesday's government session in Hronske Klacany (Nitra region) that he doesn't believe the allegations according to which Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto arranged a trip to Moscow in 2020 for Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, who was prime minister at the time. "The way I see it is that all the current activities surrounding Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjarto are designed to undermine him, and by extension, [Hungarian Prime Minister] Viktor Orban, in order to sway the election outcome against Orban," stated Gaspar. He's also convinced that the election is being influenced, as every superpower has its own interests and is trying to stabilise the situation in other countries in its favour via hybrid threats and attacks. Investment Minister Samuel Migal (Independent) described the news as "unpleasant". He pointed out that the war in Ukraine hadn't yet begun in 2020, so the stance towards Russia was not as strict as it is today. "At that time, I might have accepted it. Vladimir Putin was an accepted world leader back then. Today he's in isolation. There's a difference between the perspective then and now, but in this case, I don't want to either defend or criticise," said Migal, adding that election interference has always existed. Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) stated that he knows Pellegrini as a fair and professional person. "He's a respected politician even at the international level and certainly doesn't need anyone, especially from abroad, to arrange things for him. He's capable of handling his own affairs whenever he needs something," added Sasko. According to Dennik N, Szijjarto allegedly explained to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov - at Hungarian PM Viktor Orban's request - that it was "crucially important" for Hungary that the then coalition parties in Slovakia should stay in power, and that if Pellegrini were received in Moscow, it would "greatly help him win the election". Pellegrini has stated for TASR that he participated in standard talks in 2020 and that he refuses to be drawn into the Hungarian election campaign or related activities. jrg/df