Brussels (Brussels Morning) – European Council President Charles Michel cautioned against punishing Hungary over Viktor Orban’s Russia visit, deeming it “problematic” but warning of self-inflicted penalties for the EU. Orban defended his actions as fostering peace dialogue independently.
European Council President Charles Michel states that Viktor Orban’s Ukraine peace mission to Russia should be measured. European Council President Charles Michel has cautioned EU member states against formally punishing Hungary after its Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Moscow days after his government assumed the rotating presidency of the council.
What’s at Stake for EU in Viktor Orban’s Moscow Trip?
EU Council President Michel briefed the Financial Times that Orban’s “peace mission” had been “a problem” and explained his actions as “not acceptable.” However, he indicated that punishing Hungary for the move could amount to “falling into a trap.” “We don’t want to penalise ourselves in a collateral effect of trying to punish someone,” Michel described. “Let’s be smart.”
EU officials and several member nations have lashed out at Orban over his journey, which he defined as part of a “peace mission” to foster dialogue between Kyiv and Moscow. The prime minister has commented that he was not meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky on the EU’s behalf. The sessions didn’t even amount to talks, he argued, since his only goal was to hear out the two leaders.
According to the FT, the EU’s legal service has said that Orban nevertheless disregarded the bloc’s treaties. His actions “could threaten the attainment of the union’s objectives” and were not done “in a spirit of loyalty and mutual solidarity,” it found.
Several EU nations are reportedly weighing whether to boycott informal events that Hungary will host over the six months of its presidency, or perhaps even to strip Budapest of the role entirely.
Is Slovakia’s Support of Orban’s Russia Trip Justifiable?
Criticism of Orban within the EU, while widespread, was not everywhere. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico stated last week that he felt “admiration” for his Hungarian counterpart’s bravery.
“There are never enough peace talks and initiatives. If my state of health allowed me to go, I would have loved to join him,” said Fico, who is still recovering from injuries he suffered during an attempted assassination in May.
Orban has disregarded the criticism, particularly from EU officials, claiming that a bureaucratized way of doing things was one of the reasons why the Ukraine battle is dragging on, as the bloc follows Washington’s lead on the issue. “Europe is increasingly being dragged into a war, in which it has nothing to gain and everything to lose,” he wrote in an opinion piece in the Hungarian press, explaining his intentions.
