Right-wing nationalist makes trip without official mandate from EU bloc, sparking outrage
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, without a mandate from the European Union.
“The #peace mission continues. Second stop: #Moscow,” Orban posted on X on Friday, his trip to the Russian capital coming days after a first stop in kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Hungary took over the rotating EU presidency this month, and Orban has said he wants to use it to advocate for an end to fighting in Ukraine, which Russia invaded in 2022.
In televised comments at the start of their meeting, Putin suggested Orban had come to Moscow as a representative of the European Council, even though several European officials had condemned the visit.
“I understand that this time you have come not only as our long-standing partner, but as the president of the Council,” Putin told Orban, adding that he expected him to outline “the position of European partners” on Ukraine.
But top EU foreign affairs official Josep Borrell said Orban had not been given any mandate to visit Moscow, confiding the visit to the “framework of bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia”.
The Hungarian leader “does not represent the EU in any way,” Borrell said in a statement.
Orban, seen as the European leader closest to Putin, has regularly blocked and delayed efforts by the 27-member bloc to provide financial and military aid to Ukraine and to impose sanctions on Russia.
Hungary also angered Ukraine by criticising the EU's opening of formal membership talks with kyiv, although it ended up abstaining rather than vetoing the move.
Borrell also said that Putin “has been indicted by the International Criminal Court and an arrest warrant has been issued for his role in connection with the forced deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.”
On Friday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that “appeasement will not stop” Putin. “Only unity and determination will pave the way to a comprehensive, fair and lasting peace in Ukraine,” she said on X.
Hungarian @PM_ViktorOrban Visiting Moscow:
Appeasement will not stop Putin.
Only unity and determination will pave the way to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 5, 2024
On Tuesday in kyiv, Orban urged Zelensky to work for a “time-limited” ceasefire with Russia to speed up peace talks.
Instead, the Ukrainian leader called on Orban to support kyiv's efforts to work for peace together with its international partners.
Without mandate
While Hungary will be able to hold the EU presidency for six months, European Council President Charles Michel said on Thursday that it has “no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU.”
“The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. One cannot talk about Ukraine without Ukraine,” he wrote in X.
The rotating EU presidency has no mandate to engage in dialogue with Russia on behalf of the EU.
The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. One cannot talk about Ukraine without talking about Ukraine.
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) July 4, 2024
The EU has strongly opposed Russia's war on Ukraine, imposing an unprecedented 14 rounds of sanctions on Russia over the invasion, which Orban has repeatedly sought to ease.
Orban insisted on Friday that peace cannot be achieved without dialogue.
“If we sit in Brussels, we will not be able to get any closer to peace. Action must be taken,” Orban told Hungarian state radio when asked about his visit to Ukraine on Tuesday.
His visit to Moscow would be the first by an EU leader since Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer in April 2022. Orban and Putin last met in October 2023 in Beijing, where they discussed energy cooperation.
