Orbán Called to Resign as Head of European Council After Visit to Putin

“The fact that Orbán is shamefully abusing the EU Council presidency and going to the Kremlin without a mandate is a scandal. It undermines the fundamental principles of EU foreign policy. Either the Hungarian government respects its current role in the EU, or it must resign as president,” said Michael Roth, chairman of the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee.

Earlier, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated that the Hungarian leader’s visit to Moscow had not been agreed upon with them. Orbán said he “told the Russian president about President Zelenskyy’s reaction to the ceasefire proposal,” and that the purpose of his visit was to ask Putin “the shortest path to ending the war.”

“I wanted to ask him what he thought about the existing peace initiatives, the ceasefire, and negotiations, and how he sees Europe after the war. I received answers to these questions. Our meeting is taking place during a war. I consider the struggle for peace to be Hungary’s task during the EU presidency.”