After Orban's visit to Putin - Hungary justifies Baerbock's rejection with "change of date"
The Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained the cancellation of Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock's (Greens) originally planned visit for Monday with an "unexpected change in calendar" of her colleague Peter Szijjarto. The ministry asked Berlin to reschedule the visit to a later but still timely date, according to a statement on the Hungarian news portal "444.hu". "The reasons are purely technical, not political", the statement reportedly read.
Minister Szijjarto accompanied Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on his controversial trip to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday. Szijjarto has a particularly close relationship with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, who awarded him the Russian Order of Friendship in 2021. Orban staged the meeting with Putin, whose country has been waging an armed conflict against Ukraine for more than two years, as a "peace mission".
Due to Orban's Moscow-friendly politics and his efforts to dismantle democracy, German government politicians have been scarce in Hungary in recent years. Baerbock was not supposed to travel to Budapest on Monday in particular because Hungary took over the EU presidency on July 1.
The cancellation from Budapest came unexpectedly and short-term, as the Foreign Office announced on Friday evening. "A serious and sincere personal conversation between both foreign ministers would have been important in view of the surprisingly and uncoordinated Moscow trip of Prime Minister Orban", the statement read.
- Peter Szijjarto, who has a close relationship with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, received the Russian Order of Friendship in 2021.
- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's controversial trip to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow was accompanied by Minister Szijjarto.
- Annalena Baerbock, the German Green Party's Foreign Minister, was originally scheduled to visit Berlin but had to reschedule due to an "unexpected change in calendar" in her colleague's schedule.
- The EU presidency was recently taken over by Hungary on July 1, and Baerbock was not supposed to travel to Budapest on Monday due to this reason.
- Despite Orban's Moscow-friendly politics and efforts to dismantle democracy, the German government has been scarce in Hungary recently.
- The cancellation from Budapest was unexpected and short-term, and the statement from the Foreign Office stated that a serious conversation between the two foreign ministers was important given Orban's Moscow trip.
