State visits | Xi incensed the relationship between China and Hungary in Budapest – the visit has been interpreted as an attempt to weaken the unity of the West

China’s president Xi Jinping received a warm welcome in Budapest on Thursday when he ended his first European tour in five years with a state visit to Hungary. The meeting has been interpreted as emphasizing the close relations between China and Hungary.

Xi, who visited France and Serbia earlier this week, was taken by his wife Peng Liyuan’s with a solemn reception in the courtyard of the Hungarian Presidential Palace. He met the Hungarian president in the palace Tamas Sulyokand in a statement released after the meeting, Xi said relations between the two countries were better than ever.

Later on Thursday, Xi met with the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbánwho during his long reign has strengthened Hungary’s relations with Russia and China and has repeatedly been at odds with the EU.

In an article published in the Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzeti during the visit, Xi incensed the relations between the two countries.

“Our bilateral relationship has gone on a golden journey. In the new journey of this new era, China looks forward to close cooperation with our Hungarian friends,” Xi wrote.

Chinese flags decorated the streets of Budapest on Thursday.

Is not coincidence that Xi just chose Hungary as one of the places to visit on his European trip. China has closer relations with Hungary than with any other EU country, and Chinese companies have invested heavily in the country in recent years.

When the relationship between China and the West has tightened in recent years and many EU countries are more skeptical of Chinese investments than before, according to the experts interviewed by the news agency AFP, it is also important for PR to show that China still has allies in Europe. Close relations with EU and NATO country Hungary are also an opportunity for China to weaken the unity of Western countries.

In Budapest, according to experts, Xi will not have to answer difficult and uncomfortable questions either. Although Xi’s visit to France was ostensibly polite, the French president Emmanuel Macron emphasized to him that China should not support Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Macron also urged Xi to have fairer trade relations with European countries.