2024 visits by Viktor Orbán to Russia and China
Visits under the EU presidency without EU mandate / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In July 2024, Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán announced undergoing several uncoordinated meetings that he referred to as "peace missions", visiting President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv before traveling to Moscow to meet with President of Russia Vladimir Putin, followed with him visiting Beijing to meet with Xi Jinping, then traveling to the United States to attend the 2024 Washington summit and to meet Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. The meetings notably took place amidst heightened tensions and ongoing conflict in Ukraine following Russia's invasion in 2022, with China increasing diplomatic ties to Russia in the midst of economic sanctions by the European Union and the United States.[1] The visit to Russia was notable in geopolitical history for being conducted without any official approval or mandate from European Union governance despite Vladimir Putin claiming that Orbán was a representative of the European Union. This led to condemnation from several EU national leaders and Ukraine's government, calling the meetings "appeasement" towards Russia's aggressive, expansionist policies in Ukraine and China's partnership with Russia allowing their military to continue the way despite Western sanctions. It also caused concern among European Union leaders that Orbán was attempting to co-opt his position in the presidency of the Council of the European Union and speak on its behalf to achieve personal goals at odds with the policies and values of the bloc.[2]
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