Putin's Hungarian

July 4, 2024

On July 1, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán assumed the rotating Presidency of the European Union (EU) for six months despite his friendship with Vladimir Putin, his efforts to obstruct Europe’s military aid to Ukraine, and his sanctions-breaking energy dependence on Russian oil and natural gas. He is a spoiler and an outlier when it comes to foreign policy, within the 27-member EU, and has also been fined for corruption and abrogating its rules concerning judicial independence and human rights. And Hungary also lives off Euro subsidies. But no sooner did he assume the role, than he trekked to Kyiv and recommended an immediate ceasefire to President Volodymyr Zelensky, not to Russia the predator. His request was neither EU policy nor rational. In 2014, after Russia’s first invasion, a ceasefire and negotiation began but the Russians never left, then re-invaded in 2022 to get the rest. Orbán also improperly suggested that Ukraine surrender a region called Zakarpattia that has traded hands for decades and where only 12 percent of residents speak Hungarian. Clearly, Orbán should not “lead” Europe. “Hungary's right-wing nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán is the first head of the rotating EU Council presidency to have publicly attacked and demeaned the EU's own institutions,” wrote Germany’s Deutsche Welle. “How much damage could Orbán really do?”