Trump to reportedly host Orban in Florida
July 11, 2024
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will meet former US President Donald Trump on Thursday in Florida, according to several news outlets.
Citing three separate sources, the news agency Reuters reported that the agenda of the meeting was not clear, but the war in Ukraine would be a topic of conversation.
On Wednesday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Budapest saw a "chance for peace" in Ukraine if Trump were to return to office.
The Republican Party is set to officially nominate Trump as its candidate for the 2024 presidential election at its convention next week.
Orban's controversial movements
Orban is in the United States to attend the NATO summit in Washington, DC. His visit comes on the heels of a string of controversial surprise trips the leader embarked on earlier this month, just as Hungary took over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union.
The Hungarian prime minister visited Beijing earlier this week and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on a self-proclaimed "peace mission 3.0."
Orban's visit to China came after his recent trips to Kyiv and Moscow, where he attempted to position himself as a mediator pushing for an end to Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine. He also met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week.
The Hungarian prime minister is the only EU leader to have maintained close relations with Putin since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He has refused to send weapons to Ukraine and has regularly opposed and challenged EU support for Kyiv.
Orban's visits have been criticized by EU officials and representatives of some member states, with many stressing that he does not represent the bloc.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said again that Orban was not acting on behalf of the EU, after news of his scheduled meeting with Trump was reported.
rmt/lo (EFE, Reuters)