Orban's EU presidency sparks controversy with Moscow, Beijing trips

It has been just ten days since the start of Hungary's presidency of the EU, and Viktor Orban has already decided on two major provocations. The Hungarian Prime Minister is attempting to discredit the European Union. The response is expected to be his isolation.

The day after taking over the six-month presidency of the EU Council on July 1, Orban visited Kyiv. This was his first trip to Ukraine since the Russian invasion of that country in February 2022. The meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was well-received in the West. Three days later, the Hungarian Prime Minister went to Moscow for talks with Russia's dictator Vladimir Putin, which was met with sharp criticism from allies.

On Monday, the head of the Hungarian government made another unannounced visit, this time to Beijing, from where he flew to the United States for a NATO summit in Washington, DC. Poland demanded a meeting regarding Hungary's conduct of the rotating presidency of the EU. On Wednesday, the ambassadors of the member states discussed the matter. Everyone, except Slovakia, criticized Orban. It has been just ten days since the start of Hungary's presidency, and Viktor Orban has already decided on two major provocations.

In February 2022, Orban was in Moscow. Two weeks later, Russia attacked Ukraine. Now he has visited Moscow again, and a few days later, Russia bombed a children's hospital. He is not a guardian of peace but of war - says Manfred Weber, a German Christian Democrat and chairman of the European People's Party, quoted by the newspaper.

There have been voices that due to the behaviour of the Hungarian Prime Minister, the EU Council will take away Hungary's presidency and give it to Poland. However, this is unlikely to happen. In Brussels, the prevailing opinion is that in the coming months, apart from staging a political show, Orban will not pose a threat to the EU. The approach to him is intended to be political isolation, for example, by sending lower-ranking officials from EU states to meetings in Budapest.

Let's stand up to him. But at the same time, let's not overdo it, let's not focus on him - an anonymous European Parliament (EP) interlocutor tells the newspaper.

Orban synchronized his visits to Moscow and Beijing with the initiative to create a new political group in the EP, bringing the far right together. The French National Rally leads the way, but everyone talks about Orban's group, not Le Pen's. The Hungarian Prime Minister leads a right-wing crusade in the EU.