Hungary’s Orban Makes First Trip to Ukraine of War, Promoting Peace Talks

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived in Kyiv, Ukraine on Tuesday morning to promote a peace process, the day after he took over the Presidency of the European Council.

Viktor Orban took over the rotating presidency of the European Council on Monday, vowing to work for peace in Europe during his term, and promptly took up the longstanding invitation to travel to Kyiv from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a surprise trip Tuesday morning.

A press spokesman for Mr Orban said of his intentions for the day, which will include talks with President Zelensky, statements, but no press conference: “The most important topic of the discussion is the possibility of creating peace”. He said they would also discuss Hungarian-Ukrainian bilateral relations, which have tended to be reasonably poor in the past, Budapest accusing Kyiv of mistreating the nation’s small Hungarian minority in its south-West.

This issue has also long been a sticking point in Ukraine’s attempts to join the European Union, along with addressing corruption and the influence of oligarchs. The bloc opened formal membership talks with Kyiv last week, a major boost for the country.

Hungary’s Orban has made clear working for peace in Europe will be the major focus of his time at the top of the European Council, the club of EU member state heads of state, which is chaired by a rotating presidency. On Monday as he took over the role from the Belgians, Mr Orban said the Russia-Ukraine war is the greatest threat presently facing Europe and said he wanted to be sure the continent is ready for what comes next.

Articulating his view that President Trump will be the next U.S. President and will impose a ceasefire on Russia and Ukraine within days of taking office, which he says he believes will lead to peace negotiations, Orban warns of a situation where the United States and Russia negotiate between themselves on the future of a European nation without European leaders being at the table.

So while Orban’s talk of peace is deeply unpopular among some European leaders, and has led to accusations of him being a Russian puppet, he insists being ready for such an outcome would be in the continent’s interests. He said on Monday, per Hungarian media: “Europe must prepare for the situation that sooner or later the Americans and the Russians will negotiate with each other… Where will Europe be in this [situation]? Who will represent your interests? What are your interests anyway?”.