PM Orbán indeed showed up in Moscow today. But why?

HUNGARY - In Brief 05 Jul 2024 by Istvan Racz

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Mr. Orbán indeed travelled to Moscow today, meeting president Putin, talking mainly about the war in Ukraine. They held a press conference afterwards, where Mr. Orbán said that he understands that the period of Hungary's rotating EU presidency is also a kind of a peace mission. A Kremlin spokesman said that they (correctly) see Mr. Orbán as Hungary's prime minister on this occasion, but then Mr. Putin acknowledged that his visitor is also a rotating president of the EU. However, the purpose of Mr. Orbán's visit remained in the dark. NATO said that they were not sending him to Moscow, and he was not negotiating in their name. Leading EU politicians said that did not send him either, and he had no mandate to talk in their name. Ukraine was also unhappy, saying he did not carry any message from them, and his trip to Moscow was not coordinated with and agreed by the Kiyv government at all. Russia said they appreciate Mr. Orbán's commitment to making peace, but they did not invite him to Moscow, the meeting was organised on Hungary's initiative. But then what? Some political commentators speculated that his visit may have been Mr. Orbán's own idea, to serve as some kind of a demonstration of his importance in international politics. But it is unclear to whom he may have wanted to demonstrate. Should anyone have the thought that he needed this for domestic politics, we would quickly say that no, just a few weeks after the European and local government elections no one in domestic politics appears to be particularly interested in the government's foreign policy, especially if it has nothing to do with Hungary grabbing EU funds. An alternative idea could be that adventures of ...