The letter followed Orban’s meeting with Trump on Thursday — the Hungarian leader’s latest stop in a diplomatic blitz involving trips to Russia, Ukraine, China and the United States. Orban’s office has characterized his travels as a “peace mission,” though the effort has drawn the ire of leaders across Europe, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
A long-time critic of the E.U.’s unequivocal support of Ukraine, Orban said that he believed that Trump would win reelection in November, and urged the E.U. to revamp its policy toward the war in Ukraine in response — namely, by seeking a negotiated settlement of the conflict and the reestablishment of diplomatic communication between Europe and Russia.
The Hungarian leader also warned that a Trump victory in November would reduce U.S. aid, making the E.U. Ukraine’s principal backer, a role that would come at significant cost to the bloc.
Orban’s proposals drew a rebuke from European Council President Charles Michel, who reiterated that the E.U. was committed “to support Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes and as intensely as needed.”
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“No discussion about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine,” Michel added. “The European Union has consistently sought to build broad international support for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace based on the UN Charter and international law, in line with the key principles and objectives of Ukraine’s Peace Formula.”
Ukraine and its Western backers have insisted that the war could end if Russia simply withdrew its troops from Ukraine. Russia launched its invasion in February 2022, and currently has control of approximately one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory. Ukraine’s political leadership has said that any negotiations premised on its surrender of that territory were a non-starter.
Orban’s letter, first reported by the Financial Times, proposes that the E.U. engage China as a possible mediator between Russia and Ukraine — a role Orban says China would only consider “if the chance for success of its engagement is close to certain.” He also called on the bloc to reopen “direct lines of diplomatic communication with Russia.”
In his response to Orban, Michel wrote that the E.U. had been in touch with China in the course of its work toward peace in Ukraine.
Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the European Union — a job that involves setting the agenda in Brussels — on July 1. Even before Hungary acceded to the position, some members sought to ring the alarm about placing Orban in the European spotlight. So far though, Orban has done little to assuage his critics’ concerns, and more to stoke them: Hungary’s slogan for its six-month stint in the role is “Make Europe Great Again.”
In a letter obtained by Politico on Tuesday, over 60 members of the European Parliament said that Orban had “caused significant damage by exploiting and abusing the role of the Council Presidency.” The MEPs accused Orban of claiming to represent the European Union in the course of his so-called “peace mission.”
The MEPs also demanded that European Union leadership strip Hungary of voting rights in the Council.
“Not only is he exceeding his powers when he pretends to represent the EU as a whole, but he is actively pursuing a policy agenda which is contrary to common EU positions,” the members wrote. “He is seeking to undermine existing EU decisions, the entire decisionmaking process, as well as EU unity on highly important matters. This cannot be allowed to continue.”
None of Orban’s trips were authorized by the E.U., though some of Orban’s interlocutors pointedly took advantage of the ambiguity.
“I understand that you have come this time not only as our long-standing partner, but also as the president of the European Council,” Putin said when greeting Orban in Moscow.
In response, some European diplomats have quietly boycotted meetings convened by Hungary.
Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, has openly criticized Orban’s whistle-stop diplomatic tour. “Between us, with all due respect to everybody, with all respect to all the countries, big and small countries, we have said that not all the leaders can make negotiations,” Zelensky told reporters at the NATO summit in Washington on July 11. “You need to have some power for this.”
Michael Birnbaum in Washington and Emily Rauhala in Brussels contributed to this report.
