2024-07-08 15:23:58
Orbán visited China after visits to Kyiv and Moscow, where he sought to position himself as a mediator aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. He called his visit to Beijing “Peace Mission 3.0”.
Orbán emphasized that China has a big role to play in creating the conditions for ending the war in Ukraine.
In an interview with the German newspaper “Bild”, Orban repeated calls for a ceasefire and warned of an escalation of the conflict in the coming months. “Believe me, the next two or three months will be much more cruel than we think,” Orbán, who met with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week, said in an interview published on Monday.
“There are more weapons and the Russians are more determined. The energy of the confrontation, the number of dead, the number of victims will become more brutal than in the previous seven months,” predicted the Hungarian Prime Minister. He stressed that he “doesn’t argue about who is right and who is wrong” and that his goal is peace and a ceasefire.
In turn, the Chinese president used Orbán’s visit to call on the international community to “create the conditions and provide assistance for the two sides to resume direct dialogue and negotiations,” according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
“Only if all major powers use positive rather than negative energy can the dawn of a ceasefire in this conflict dawn as soon as possible,” Xi said.
China did not attend a recent Ukrainian-led international summit in Switzerland, preferring instead to adopt its own six-point peace plan it published with Brazil in May and which Moscow has backed.
China positions itself as a neutral country in the Ukraine conflict, but has actually sided with Russia and supports its economy.
Orban is the only European Union (EU) leader who has maintained close relations with the Kremlin after Russia’s repeated invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He has refused to send arms to Ukraine and has opposed EU support for Kyiv.
Hungary took over the EU’s rotating presidency this month, but German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck today repeated what other European leaders said that Orbán does not speak for the bloc.
When the Hungarian Prime Minister visited Moscow, the EU’s top representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Juseps Borel, emphasized that this visit was taking place without the authorization of the EU leaders.
As the EU tries to reduce its dependence on China, fearing that it could threaten the European economy by flooding the market with cheap goods, Hungary has attracted a large flow of Chinese projects in recent years, mainly related to the production of batteries and electric vehicles.
Since returning to power in 2010, Orban has defended the foreign policy of “Opening the East”, trying to build closer economic ties with China, Russia and other Asian countries. The Hungarian government is proud that China is implementing projects worth about 15 billion euros.
2024-07-08 15:23:58