Viktor Orbán opens EU Council presidency with first trip to Ukraine since Russian invasion

Hungary’s ultra-conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is visiting Ukraine on Tuesday on his first trip to the country since Russia launched its offensive on land, sea and air on February 24, 2022. The European leader closest to Moscow has met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other members of his cabinet. Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the EU Council on Monday. “The aim of the Hungarian presidency is to contribute to solving the challenges facing the European Union. My first trip, therefore, took me to kyiv,” Orbán wrote on social media after his meeting with the Ukrainian president. “The issue of peace is important not only for the security of Ukraine, but for the security of Europe as a whole,” he added.

Speaking at a joint press conference, Orbán said he hoped to improve ties with Ukraine and sign a comprehensive bilateral cooperation agreement. Zelensky said Tuesday’s meeting could serve as a basis for such future cooperation, saying the leaders discussed issues such as trade, cross-border cooperation, infrastructure and energy. “The talks will focus on the possibilities of achieving peace, as well as current issues in Hungarian-Ukrainian bilateral relations,” said the Hungarian government’s international spokesman, Zoltan Kovacs, hours earlier. on social network XThe Hungarian leader called on the Ukrainian side to consider pushing for a ceasefire in order to speed up dialogue that could lead to peace.

Orbán, leader of Hungary’s ultra-conservative Fidesz party, has been the EU leader who has put the most obstacles to the opening of negotiations between kyiv and Brussels for Ukraine’s future accession to the community club, as well as to the approval of new financial assistance (more than 6 billion euros) through the frozen assets of Russia. In June, the Hungarian leader met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and promised not to block military or financial support actions for Ukraine in exchange for staying away from the Alliance’s aid to kyiv. Budapest is demanding guarantees from kyiv regarding the rights of the Hungarian minority living in western Ukraine.

Orbán arrives in kyiv at a delicate moment, with Ukraine’s energy sector severely damaged – 80% of infrastructure – by Russian artillery attacks and strong pressure both on the eastern front and on the civilian population, daily targets of the bombs. President Zelensky, in his last message on Monday, in which he anticipated the diplomatic efforts being made to improve its anti-aircraft defence systems, also stated that the coming months should show “progress in Ukraine’s rapprochement with the EU”.

The visit of the Hungarian prime minister, as leader of his country and as head of the rotating presidency of the EU Council, is a success in the political battle of Zelensky’s cabinet. Orbán is the only European leader, along with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, to have met with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the current offensive began. The Fidesz leader reaffirmed his ties and harmony with the Russian president last October during a summit in Beijing on the Silk Road, where both discussed energy. The Russian energy giant Rosatom is building a nuclear power plant in Hungary based on a contract signed in 2014.

Orbán has had an invitation from kyiv to visit the country since last year, but the ultra-conservative leader has only pushed the envelope on Tuesday. However, this will not be the first time that Zelensky and the Hungarian prime minister have met face to face. The last time was last Thursday in Brussels, at the summit of heads of state and government to elect the new leadership of the EU. On December 10, they were also seen talking during the inauguration ceremony of the Argentine president, Javier Milei, in Buenos Aires.

The Ukrainian leader also invited the Hungarian Prime Minister to attend the peace summit held in Switzerland in mid-June. Orbán declined the invitation, but sent his foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, who has also travelled to Moscow on several occasions since the start of the large-scale invasion. Budapest was, however, among the signatories of the resolution agreed in Switzerland.

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