EU strongly condemns suspected Orban trip to Putin
Borrell continued to remind that since March 2023, there is an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
Orban himself wrote on the online platform X: "From the comfortable chair in Brussels, one cannot make peace." Although he had no mandate to negotiate on behalf of the EU, "we cannot retreat and wait for the war to end miraculously. We will be an important instrument in making the first steps towards peace." A meeting with Putin was confirmed by Orban for the time being. Hungarian journalists reported that a government car had departed from Budapest to Moscow on Friday morning.
SPD foreign policy politician Michael Roth called Orban's alleged visit to Putin a "scandal." "It's a scandal that Orban shamefully misuses the EU Council Presidency and travels to the Kreml without a mandate," Roth wrote on X in English. The Hungarian government undercut the principles of EU foreign policy in this way. "Either the Hungarian government respects its current role in the EU or it should give up the presidency," Roth added further.
Hungary took over the rotating EU Council Presidency on Monday. The following day, Orban was the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 to travel to Kiev and held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Orban urged Zelenskyy for a time-limited ceasefire with Russia. Zelenskyy rejected this and emphasized that his country wanted a "just peace."
Orban had met Putin in October 2023 at a summit in Beijing, which caused outrage in the EU. Hungary's prime minister had delayed EU sanctions against Russia and EU financial aid for Kiev several times.
- Despite the ICC's arrest warrant against Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, Orban confirmed a meeting with the Russian leader in Moscow.
- The EU Council Presidency was recently taken over by Hungary, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who had a history of visiting Moscow, causing controversy within the EU.
- Michael Roth, an SPD foreign policy politician, criticized Orban's alleged visit to Putin, calling it a "scandal" and questioning Hungary's commitment to EU foreign policy principles.
- Vladimir Putin met with Orban in October 2023, which caused a stir in the EU, as Hungary delayed EU sanctions against Russia and financial aid for Ukraine during Orban's tenure.
- Despite Orban's recent trip to Kiev to discuss a ceasefire with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Putin continues to remain a divisive figure due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, with the support of the ICC.
- The EU, particularly its members like Brussels, have expressed concern over Hungary's closer ties with Moscow and Orban's failure to fully endorse the EU's stance on Putin and Ukraine.
