On Friday 5 July, Viktor Orbán’s trip to Moscow, where he met Russian President Vladimir Putin, caused incomprehension among Hungary’s European Union and NATO partners, considering that the Hungarian Prime Minister had not received any mandate to take such an initiative.
Speaking from Moscow, Mr Orbán was quoted by AFP as saying that positions between Ukraine and Russia remained “very far apart”. “But the first important step towards re-establishing dialogue has been taken today, and I will continue this work”, he said. Mr Putin has asked Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the Ukrainian territories annexed by the Russian army.
Following the warning issued by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel (see EUROPE 13446/4), the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, stressed on X that Mr Orbán had not received any mandate from the Member States to travel to Moscow, pointing out that the position of the European Council, set out in several conclusions agreed by the EU27, “excludes official contacts between the EU and President Putin”. He recalled that Mr Putin was the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for his role in the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
For the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, seeking “appeasement will not stop Putin”. “Only unity and determination will pave the way for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine”, she said.
The EU institution’s spokesman, Eric Mamer, said that with the recent conference for peace in Ukraine, which took place in mid-June in Switzerland and in which Hungary participated (see EUROPE 13433/21), a process is underway at EU level, and that this process, unlike individual initiatives, provides “the best chances” for achieving lasting peace. “We want a just peace for Ukraine, not appeasement for Russia. This trip plays into Putin’s hands”, he insisted. He also said that Mr Orbán’s initiative called into question the move to Budapest of the College of Commissioners, which had already been postponed until September (see EUROPE 13443/12).
At the European Council, several Member State leaders voiced their disapproval of Mr Orbán’s initiative, which comes 3 days after his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv (see EUROPE 13444/21).
The Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, pointed to the irony in Mr Orbán’s statement that Hungary would be used as an important tool in making the first step towards peace: “The question is: in whose hands is this tool?”. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated the EU’s very clear position: “We condemn the Russian war of aggression”. The Swedish Prime Minister, Petteri Orpo, described Mr Orbán’s initiative as “irresponsible and disloyal”, sending “the wrong message to the world” and “an insult to the Ukrainian people”, while his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen, described it as “deeply concerning”. “There is nothing to talk about as long as Russia continues to attack Ukraine”, she said.
Speaking to the press, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Mr Orbán had informed him of these trips, noting that Hungary represents only itself in Moscow. According to him, the Hungarian Prime Minister, who recognises that Russia is the aggressor in Ukraine, will have the opportunity next week in Washington to discuss his recent initiatives with the Allies at the NATO summit.
Noting that Mr Orbán’s trip to Moscow had not been coordinated with the Ukrainian authorities, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry referred to the principle that ‘no agreement on Ukraine will be possible without it’. And he stressed that the ‘Peace Formula’ drawn up by Kyiv was “the only realistic path” towards a lasting ceasefire.
In October 2023, Mr Orbán had met Mr Putin in Beijing. The last visit to Moscow by a leader of an EU country was that of Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Camille-Cerise Gessant)