On Friday morning, Viktor Orbán released a video of his latest peace mission, which took him to Florida. You can see: Donald Trump’s private plane; a Time magazine cover with Trump framed in gold; a bald eagle, also in gold; a bottle of Trump Heritage wine; and finally the head of the Hungarian government himself, standing next to Trump and both giving the thumbs up. The quickly edited images were enough to convince the world that only these two men could bring peace back to Ukraine.
This time Orbán was very reserved. “We talked about ways to establish peace,” he wrote on the X platform, and said modestly: “The good news is: He will solve it!” So Trump, not Orbán. How it remained unclear for the time being. A Republican presidential candidate was no longer in the cards. “Thank you, Viktor,” Trump wrote on his own platform Truth Social. “There must be PEACE and quickly.”
Biden’s security adviser talks about “adventurism”
The visit to Hungary was the culmination of a journey that took him first to Kiev, then to Moscow and Beijing and finally to Mar-a-Lago. Orbán called it “Mission of Peace 5.0”. It is not yet clear whether he miscalculated in his haste or whether his previous visit to the NATO summit in Washington was spontaneously included in the list. Admittedly, it wasn’t as hot at the other stations. Participants reported that Orbán spent most of the time standing alone in the “Leaders Lounge” during the lunch break between two NATO Council meetings.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden’s security adviser explained to reporters his government’s position on Orbán’s peace mission. “All foreign affairs that are taking place without the consent and support of Ukraine,” said Jake Sullivan, “it is not consistent with our policy, with the foreign policy of the United States.” Biden himself later said that he sees “no good reason to talk to Putin now.” All other heads of government at the summit who were accused made similar statements.
The intervention of the President of Finland Alexander Stubb showed that Orbán has yet to make some convincing in this circle of Western politicians. “I’ll say it out loud: I don’t believe it makes sense to have conversations with authoritarian regimes that violate international law,” Stubb said. “He can do it in his own name. But I am fundamentally against doing that. I just don’t see the point.”
EU partners could boycott the Hungarian Council Presidency
The chancellor had a similar experience. Orbán did not act for the European Council on any of his trips, said Olaf Scholz (SPD) in his final press conference. He added: “Obviously, many have discussed that this should be made clear in some way; for he cannot travel through the countryside with this understanding.” This heralded another public outcry. However, Scholz did not intend to suggest that the Hungarian presidency of the Council of Ministers could be suddenly shortened. “There are no such considerations,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sweden announced that it would not initially send ministers to informal councils, which are always held in the Council Presidency country. Instead, according to European Minister Jessica Roswall, the country wants to be represented by civil servants. Finland, Poland and the Baltic states responded similarly. There is a threat to boycott the informal meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Budapest at Gymnich at the end of August. However, not all states see it that way. Another idea is that it would be better to go there and meet NGOs in an expressive way.
Orbán’s cabinet leader, Balász Orbán, explained on CBS on Thursday that the American government is funding the “liberal opposition in Hungary, through the media, NGOs, think tanks, because it wants to get rid of conservative governments.” The moderator said: “We are allies. If your country is attacked, the US military will defend it.”