Germany says Hungary’s EU presidency causing ‘a lot of damage’

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited former U.S. President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida in a trip he labelled “Peace mission 5.0” on July 12, 2024 | Photo: Twitter/X feed of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán

Berlin (dpa) – The German Foreign Office on Friday said Hungary has caused “a lot of damage” in the 12 days since it assumed the rotating EU presidency.

A spokesman in Berlin called Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s visits to Moscow and Beijing “solo Hungarian efforts that we observe with great astonishment and scepticism.”

He said Orbán was acting in a personal capacity and not as a representative of the EU.

Regarding possible consequences for the visits, the spokesman said: “We have to see how Hungary’s Council presidency continues. We are now on day 12 and it has already caused a lot of damage.”

Deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner said that Orbán could travel wherever he wanted. “What is not acceptable is that he travels through the world with the impression that he is doing so on behalf of others. And there will certainly be further discussion about how to deal with this,” he added.

Ahead of the NATO summit in Washington this week, Orbán met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing.

Both visits included discussions on potential peace proposals for Ukraine, which has been fending off a Russian invasion for more than two years.

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Context from StratPost

Orbán has labelled his visits as a “peace mission.” Shortly after taking over the presidency of the EU, Orbán travelled to Kiev, Moscow and Beijing, referring to his visit to Washington D.C. for the NATO Summit as “Peace mission 4.0” and a subsequent visit to former U.S. President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida as “Peace mission 5.0.”