"Orban's 'shuttle diplomacy' leave Western allies exasperated - Bloomberg
Kyiv • UNN
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's recent visits to Moscow and Beijing to meet with Putin and Xi Jinping have irritated Western allies.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's "shuttle diplomacy" with meetings in Moscow and Beijing leave Western allies exasperated, Bloomberg reported, UNN writes.
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"Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s recent trips to Moscow and Beijing had one thing in common: They blindsided his country’s Western allies. European Union and NATO partners woke up on Monday to learn that Orban had paid a visit to President Xi Jinping in China. That followed a surprise meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week which caught out countries working to present a united front on Ukraine," the newspaper writes.
It is stated that "EU leaders tried to distance themselves from Orban's visit to Moscow and emphasized that he did not represent the bloc when he said he was working to open lines of communication to bring peace to Ukraine.
"But their attempts to condemn his freelancing were complicated by the fact that on July 1, Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the EU, which Putin and Xi immediately noticed," the publication notes.
In a July 5 letter seen by Bloomberg, Orban told fellow leaders that he was not expressing any opinion on behalf of the EU. A statement by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Monday indicated that these assurances did not convince them, the newspaper said.
No official has the right to mediate peace in Ukraine on behalf of the bloc without receiving its approval, Tusk said at a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Warsaw. "History remembers politicians who said they were working for a just peace, but in fact they were working for capitulation," he added.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington that he was not aware of any advance notice of any trip. Orban's diplomatic activities "do not appear to be productive" in achieving peace in Ukraine, and the United States is concerned, he said on Monday.
White House comments on Orban's visit to MoscowJul 7 2024, 02:48 AM • 106004 views
EU ambassadors plan to seek more clarity from Hungary on Orban's visits at their weekly meeting on Wednesday. According to an EU diplomat, several member states are not sure how Budapest is using its presidency. They added that they were concerned about Hungary's use of the presidency logo in some communications related to the meetings.
Orban is traveling to the annual NATO summit in Washington this week, having already secured promises to release Hungary from its commitment to help Ukraine. In comments on Monday, Hungarian Cabinet Minister Gergely Gulyas did not rule out a meeting with Donald Trump before Orban returns home.
"The former US president has said he wants a quick peace deal, and were he to be elected in November might endorse Orban’s perspective. That hints at a longer-term strategy for the premier’s whirlwind travel, analysts said. Even if for now, they believe that Orban’s diplomatic offensive may bear no tangible results beyond irritating key allies," the newspaper writes.
"It's Orban-style shock and awe diplomacy," said Daniel Hegedus, a research fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Berlin. - "And the fact that he can do it without any negative consequences only gives him courage.
If his goal is to show that he cannot be contained in the EU, he is succeeding, according to Hegedus of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, who suggested ending Hungary's rotating EU presidency as one potential "reprimand." Until the bloc steps up, it's Orban's show, he said.
"He's punching way above his weight," Hegedus said. - "He's being very strategic about it, and there's no sign that the EU has woken up to do anything about it.
