Orban’s “peacekeeping mission”: PR or real diplomacy?
8 July 2024 12:32
ЕКСКЛЮЗИВ
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, immediately after taking over the presidency of the European Union, embarked on an international tour that he calls a “peacekeeping mission”. First, he visited Kyiv for the first time in many years, then went to Moscow a day later, and today he has reached China. Orbán labels his visit to China as the same “peace mission”, reports "Komersant Ukrainian"
China is a key force in creating conditions for peace in the Russia-Ukraine war. That is why I came to meet President Xi in Beijing just two months after his official visit to Budapest.
Viktor Orban
At the same time, Orban continues to stubbornly label his information materials with the hashtag and the mark #HU24EU, which means the Hungarian presidency of the European Union.
What is Orban up to and how can we explain his unexpected “peacekeeping” activity? Political experts interviewed by Kommersant Ukrainian
are sceptical about the Hungarian leader’s real intentions and capabilities.
Political analyst Stanislav Zhelikhovsky emphasises the domestic political motives behind Orban’s activity.
“We have to understand that, first of all, Orban is doing everything for his domestic audience, for Hungary’s domestic policy. And he represents only Hungary at most, not the EU as a whole,”
– the expert said.
Zelichowski emphasises that Orban has no official powers, as no one asked him to be a peacekeeper:
“We have to understand that Orban has not received any delegation in the context of the peacekeeping process… This issue has not been agreed with anyone, so we can say that Orban is using this for his own PR.”
Political analyst Ihor Reiterovych also sees Orban’s actions as a PR campaign:
“Orban went to China and travelled to Moscow with one goal in mind – to promote himself. That is, to create an image out of the blue that he in no way matches the capabilities and resources that Hungary has today.”
Reiterowicz warns of the possible consequences of such actions for Hungary’s relations with the EU.
“One of the consequences could be the deterioration of relations between Hungary and other EU countries, because we are dealing with an outright manipulation when Orban is taking advantage of Hungary’s EU presidency,”
– said the expert.
The consequence of this Hungarian activity could be an intensification of discussions on EU reform, Reiterowicz said.
“This will lead to, and is already leading to, louder statements about the need for fundamental EU reform to prevent such things from happening in the future.”
So far, the opposite is true: the EU is looking for a strategy to help Ukraine without Hungary’s consent.
