Putin’s Former Interpreter in OSCE Mission Sparks Outrage Ahead of Hungary Vote

Hungarian rights groups have raised concerns regarding the appointment of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s former interpreter to a senior role in an international election monitoring mission, The Guardian reported on March 20.

Daria Boyarskaya, a former staffer at the Russian Foreign Ministry who interpreted for Putin during meetings with US presidents, is now a senior adviser to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE-PA). She is helping to coordinate the mission for Hungary’s parliamentary vote next month, which could decide the future of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s 16-year leadership.

Given Orbán’s alignment with Moscow and his campaign’s focus on criticizing Ukraine, civil society organizations worry that sensitive information regarding political pressure or electoral manipulation could be accessed by the Kremlin, The Guardian wrote.

Boyarskaya, who works from the OSCE’s Vienna office, recently invited civil society representatives to closed-door meetings in Budapest to discuss the electoral landscape. Rights defenders, including the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, expressed grave concerns about sharing sensitive information regarding political pressure and manipulation risks with an official who holds deep ties to the Kremlin.

They requested her immediate removal from the mission to ensure confidential exchanges are not accessed by “malign external actors.”

However, OSCE-PA Secretary General Roberto Montella dismissed the concerns as “slandering,” stating that Boyarskaya enjoys his “full trust and confidence.” While the OSCE maintains she is a direct hire and does not take instructions from Moscow, her background remains a focal point of suspicion, according to The Guardian.

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In 2019, US officials claimed Putin swapped Boyarskaya into a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the last minute to distract the US president, and in 2022, Poland declared her persona non grata, citing her presence as a threat to state security.

Security experts warn that international bodies like the OSCE are prime targets for Russian intelligence. Andrei Soldatov, a specialist on Russian intelligence networks, told The Guardian that someone with Boyarskaya’s level of access to the “first person” in Russia would almost certainly have required high-level security clearance and an “understanding of the needs” of the Russian security services.

The Hungarian government has moved to solidify its influence over the domestic information space as it faces its most contested election in nearly two decades. In early March 2026, investigations revealed a covert Kremlin-backed campaign designed to flood Hungarian social media with pro-Orbán messaging while discrediting the opposition.

Currently, as Budapest continues to block critical EU financial aid for Ukraine, international observers are warning that the upcoming vote will serve as a primary test for Russian hybrid warfare within the European Union.

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