Hungary's Orbán sparks EU turmoil with controversial visits

Only ten days have passed since Hungary's start as EU president, and Viktor Orbán has already made two significant provocations. The Hungarian Prime Minister is attempting to discredit the European Union. According to Thursday's "Rzeczpospolita," the response will be his isolation.

The day after taking over the six-month presidency of the EU Council on 1st July, Orbán visited Kyiv. It was his first trip to Ukraine since the Russian invasion of that country in February 2022. The meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky was well received in the West. Still, three days later, the Hungarian Prime Minister went to Moscow for talks with the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, which was met with strong criticism from allies.

On Monday, the Hungarian Prime Minister made another unannounced visit, this time to Beijing, from where he flew to the USA for the NATO summit in Washington. Poland has demanded a meeting regarding Hungary's rotating presidency in the EU. On Wednesday, ambassadors from member states discussed it. All, except Slovakia, criticized Orbán. Only ten days have passed since the start of Hungary's presidency, and Viktor Orbán has already made two significant provocations, reports "Rzeczpospolita".

In February 2022, Orbán 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 hand over the presidency to Poland. However, this is unlikely to happen. In Brussels, the prevailing view is that apart from putting on a political show in the coming months, Orbán will not threaten the EU. The way to deal with him is political isolation, e.g., by sending lower-ranking officials from EU states to meetings in Budapest - informs "Rzeczpospolita".

Let's stand up to him. But at the same time, let's not exaggerate, let's not focus on him, says one of the unofficial sources in the European Parliament (EP) to the newspaper.

As "Rzeczpospolita" notes, Orbán synchronized his visits to Moscow and Beijing with the initiative to create a new political group in the EP, which brings together the far right. The French National Rally leads, but everyone talks about Orbán's group, not Le Pen's. According to the newspaper, the Hungarian Prime Minister is leading a right-wing crusade in the EU.