Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has just taken over the presidency of the EU, visited Russian President Putin in Moscow on Friday.
The Moscow visit arouses anger both within the EU and NATO.
– Of course, Viktor Orbán does not represent NATO at this meeting, says NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Before Viktor Orbán had time to land in Moscow on Friday morning, the Union’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell came out and stated that the Hungarian is not in any way supporting the EU’s cause.
“Prime Minister Orbán has not received a mandate from the European Council to visit Moscow,” announced Borrell on social media.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says that it is not possible to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin by meeting him.
“Only unity and determination pave the way for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” she writes on social media.
“Orbán alone on this”
Before the trip to Moscow, Orbán informed NATO that he would meet Putin, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says.
Of course, Viktor Orbán is not representing NATO at this meeting. He represents his own country, Stoltenberg said at a press conference ahead of the NATO summit in Washington next week.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) believes that Viktor Orbán is using his presidency in an “irresponsible and disloyal” way.
“It sends the wrong signal to the outside world and is a mockery of the Ukrainian people who are fighting for their freedom,” writes Kristersson on social media.
“Viktor Orbán stands alone in this, he does not speak for the European Union and not for us other heads of state and government.”
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Anger after Orbán’s visit to Putin – that’s why he did it: “He can and wants”
Just been to Kyiv
From the official Hungarian side, Orbán’s trip was only confirmed at the last moment. Orbán himself describes it as peace not being achieved “from a comfortable armchair in Brussels”.
During the week, he visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj in Kiev, and is said to have asked, among other things, about the possibilities of some form of ceasefire to enable negotiations. From Zelenskyi’s side, it was said that the president listened and then repeated Ukraine’s view on the matter, that Russia should not occupy any part of the country.
During the course of the large-scale war, Orbán has been at odds with the other EU countries regarding the terms of peace, sanctions against Russia and relations with the Kremlin. At the turn of the month, Hungary took over the presidency of the EU Council of Ministers.