Hungary | EU countries are considering countermeasures due to Orbán’s visit to Moscow – Orbán describes Putin’s positions in a letter seen by HS

Brussels

EU countries for the time being do not take countermeasures against Hungary the country’s prime minister Viktor Orbán due to last week’s visit to Moscow. Orbán angered the other EU countries by unexpectedly flying the Russian president Vladimir Putin creates a “peace mission” just days after Hungary took over the rotating EU presidency.

Orbán’s actions irritated some of the member states so badly that they threaten Hungary with countermeasures. Some countries are considering boycotting the ministerial meetings of the EU presidency held in Hungary and sending only officials to the meetings. The idea of ​​suspending Hungary’s presidency has also been floated, which would be an unprecedented measure.

About threats despite this, the EU ambassadors of the member states did not decide on countermeasures or their further preparation at their meeting on Wednesday. The meeting did not discuss suspending the presidency.

However, some of the member states asked the EU’s foreign affairs administration and the council to find out possible countermeasures, because they consider Hungary to have violated the EU’s common line.

According to one source, it also seems likely that member states will reduce ministerial-level visits to Hungary.

Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the EU at the beginning of July. Already on Friday of the same week, Orbán flew to Moscow. The trip came as a surprise to the EU partners, and numerous leaders went public to remind that this does not have a mandate to represent the Union.

The countries were afraid that Orbán would abuse the position of EU president and try to present himself as the EU’s representative in Moscow. Orbán has repeatedly blocked and slowed down joint decisions on support for Ukraine.

to the President of the European Council To Charles Michel and in the summary of the meeting prepared for the leaders of the EU countries, Orbán tries to fight these doubts.

“I did not make presentations or express any views on behalf of the European Council or the European Union,” Orbán writes in a letter seen by HS.

In Moscow, however, Putin said in front of the cameras that Orbán would arrive as a guest as a representative of an EU institution.

On Wednesday The EU ambassadors discussed Orbán’s trip for a couple of hours. One source describes the conversation as exceptionally harsh. According to two different sources, the ambassadors of 25 countries criticized Orbán’s actions. Only the Slovak ambassador remained silent.

The countries considered that Orbán’s actions deliberately obscured the role of the EU presidency. They received support from the Council’s legal service. Orbán is also considered to be violating the letter and spirit of the European Council’s conclusions and thereby endangering the unity of the EU. Trust in Hungary is weak.

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“I did not make presentations or express any views on behalf of the European Council or the European Union,” Orbán writes in a letter seen by HS.

For now there are no signs that Orbán will change his style.

In a letter he sent to the member states, dated last Friday, Orbán says he will continue peace talks this week.

This week, Orbán is the US military alliance at the NATO summit. The public is speculating whether Orbán will try to meet the presidential candidate as well Donald Trump’sto which he has tried to create close intervals.

On Wednesday, the Hungarian EU minister János Boka neither confirmed nor denied the rumours.

“I cannot comment on the Prime Minister’s travel plans,” he said.

Bóka also had to answer numerous questions about Orbán’s trip at the press conference. He explained that the Hungarian government wants to keep diplomatic channels open to Moscow, and gave no indication that the government was about to change its line.

“In the end, with some countries, we just have to accept that we disagree.”

Bóka was also asked what kind of message Russia sent when it attacked Ukraine with dozens of missiles on Monday, just a couple of days after Orbán’s “peace mission”. A children’s hospital in Kyiv was also damaged in the attack.

“Personally, I don’t see a connection between the Prime Minister’s visit and the attacks that followed,” Bóka replied.

For member countries in the letter he sent, Orbán says that the only goal of the visit to Moscow was to get first-hand information about the conditions for peace.

In the letter seen by HS, Orbán describes Putin’s positions and views. According to Putin, Ukraine is losing around 40,000–50,000 soldiers per month and time is on Russia’s side. Unlike other Western countries, which are seeking to increase military support to Ukraine in order to counter the Russian threat, Orbán is proposing a quick ceasefire and peace talks in the memo.

“In light of the intensifying battles and the growing number of casualties, time is a decisive factor. If we cannot stop this process now, in the next two months we will witness more dramatic losses and frontline events than ever before,” Orbán writes.

According to him, the United States cannot take the initiative during the election year, so it should come from Europe.

Orbán also gives a summary of his own messages to Putin. He says that he said that the war raging in the European Union’s neighborhood and its economic effects are testing citizens and harming Europe’s competitiveness.

At least based on Orbán’s own summary, he did not tell Putin that Russia started the war by attacking Ukraine.