Germany has called on the Hungarian government to explain allegations that it "passed confidential information from EU meetings to Russia", DPA reported, BTA reported.
The allegations, which appeared in an article in the "Washington Post" newspaper over the weekend, are "very, very serious", a German Foreign Ministry spokesman said today.
He said that discussions within the European Union and between EU foreign ministers are confidential and based on the bloc's principles, which include full cooperation.
"We will not tolerate any violation of these principles," the spokesman said. "Now it is the Hungarian government's turn to respond".
The American newspaper "Washington Post" - citing a former Hungarian intelligence officer and security officials from other European countries - reported on Saturday that the Hungarian government has been passing information about sensitive discussions in the EU to Moscow for years.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó reportedly "regularly called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during breaks in EU meetings to inform him about the content of these discussions".
The accusations have sparked outrage from the European Commission and in EU capitals. In response to a report in "Ex" to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk yesterday, Szijjártó called these accusations "lies and fake news".
"The accusations that are currently on the agenda certainly cannot be swept under the carpet with a single publication in "Ex", countered a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry.