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STRASBOURG — The European Parliament has described Viktor Orbán’s visit to Russia as a “blatant violation of the EU’s Treaties and common foreign policy.”
In a vote Wednesday, members of the European Parliament condemned the meeting in passing a resolution that provided a commitment by the Parliament to maintain its support for Ukraine. Some 495 MEPs voted in favor of the pro-Ukraine resolution, with 137 voting against.
Orbán visited Moscow at the beginning of July as part of what he called a “peace mission” to discuss with Vladimir Putin conditions that could bring an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The visit shook up Brussels and European Union capitals, as it took place a few days after Hungary took the helm of the presidency of the Council of the EU and Orbán suggested he was representing the bloc as a whole.
“The EU rotating presidency has no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU. The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine,” European Council chief Charles Michel wrote on X in early July.
The declaration approved by the European Parliament “considers the visit to be a blatant violation of the EU’s Treaties and common foreign policy, including the principle of sincere cooperation,” while arguing that Orbán did not have the right to represent the EU while at the same time “violating common EU positions.”
“In the immediate aftermath of the Hungarian Prime Minister’s so-called peace mission, Russia attacked the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv, showing the irrelevance of his alleged efforts, which have been met with skepticism from the Ukrainian leadership,” the resolution continues, referring to a violent attack on July 8 that killed at least 20 people.
In reaction to the visit, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy argued that Orbán cannot mediate because Hungary is not strong enough. “You need to have an economy that influences Russia, and Putin depends on it. Or you have a very powerful army that Putin fears, which is stronger than the Russian one,” he argued.
EU countries have already retaliated by boycotting informal ministerial meetings organized by Hungary as part of the EU Council presidency, while the European Commission has instructed its top officials to skip similar meetings.
