Orbán strengthens ties with Beijing and Moscow, offered to leave EU and NATO
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán headlined the last month with the amount of information and disinformation both concerning Russia and its position on peace in Ukraine and concerning the role of other major powers in this conflict. But also regarding the short- and medium-term future of the world in a geopolitical sense, the policy of the EU and NATO towards all these issues, and, of course, the future policy of Hungary. After expressing views very different from those of the allies, he received a direct offer from a senior Polish official to leave the EU and NATO
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán headlined the last month with the amount of information and disinformation both concerning Russia and its position on peace in Ukraine and concerning the role of other major powers in this conflict. But also regarding the short- and medium-term future of the world in a geopolitical sense, the policy of the EU and NATO towards all these issues, and, of course, the future policy of Hungary. After expressing views very different from those of the allies, he received a direct offer from a senior Polish official to leave the EU and NATO
The series of scandals that began with sudden political moves, such as unannounced visits to Kiev, Moscow and Bejing, ended at the end of the month with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s visionary statements about Russia’s position, about BRICS and the future of the EU and NATO for Ukraine, after which the Hungarian leader received an open offer from a senior Polish official for Hungary to leave the EU and NATO if it does not like those collectives.
Russia and Asia —centers of the world
Macedonian-language media outlets published Orbán’s statement that Russia leads a rational policy and that Asia will be the dominant center of the world in the future.
Orbán announced that the Russian leadership is “hyper rational” and that Ukraine will never be able to fulfill its hopes of becoming a member of the European Union (EU) and NATO. Some media outlets reported details of Orbán’s praise of Russia and its leadership.
Orbán considered the claims that Russia is an autocracy to be false and said that the country has adapted to the sanctions, as well as that it shows economic and social flexibility.
Russia has learned its lessons since 2014 and not only learned them, but also turned them into actions. They carried out the necessary development of the IT and banking sector, so the Russian financial system did not break down. They have developed the ability to adapt, assessed the Hungarian Prime Minister.
So the way that Russia is described to us – as a rigid neo-Stalinist autocracy – is false. In fact we are talking about a country that displays technical and economic resilience – and perhaps also societal resilience, emphasized Orbán. It has turned out that these Western values, which were thought to be universal, are demonstratively unacceptable and rejected in ever more countries around the world. It has turned out that modernity, modern development is not Western, or at least not exclusively Western-because China is modern, India is becoming increasingly modern, and the Arabs and Turks are modernizing. said Orbán.
Orbán predicted that global power would shift from the “irrational” West to Asia and Russia.
For the next many decades – or perhaps centuries, the dominant center of the world will be Asia, said Orbán, referring to India, China, Pakistan and Indonesia as future great world powers.
He also said that Ukraine will never become a member of NATO and the EU, because the Europeans do not have money for such a thing.
After such statements, but also after the statements that Warsaw leads a hypocritical policy, Orbán received an offer to leave the EU. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski, expressed doubts about the necessity of Hungary’s membership in the EU and NATO.
I don’t really understand why Hungary wants to remain a member of organizations that it doesn’t like so much and which supposedly treat it so badly. It’s like this: If you don’t want to be a member of a club, you can always leave. added Bartoszewski, directing Orbán to enter the Union with Russia and some authoritarian states of that type.
Orbán on a self-styled peace mission
It all started with Orbán’s self-styled peace mission at the beginning of the month. He first visited Kyiv, then Moscow and Beijing.
At the meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he enabled the Kremlin to make a point by stating that Russia did not stand for a pause in hostilities or a truce, but for final peace, but that it is not their fault that it does not come to that.
We have always taken the position that we are in favor of a diplomatic solution to the conflict, but we constantly hear from the opposite side that they do not want the conflict to be resolved that way, while the sponsors of the conflict are trying to use the Ukrainian people as a victim for the fight against Russia, pointed out Putin.
For Europe, peace is the most important thing. We see the fight for peace as the main task during the next six months of our presidency (with the Council of the EU), Orbán pointed out.
He emphasized that Hungary considers the presidency of the Council of the EU as a peace mission.
Many steps are needed to end the war, but we have taken the first step to restore the dialogue. said Orbán.
The visit to Moscow was condemned by both Kiev and EU leaders, who immediately pointed out that Orbán can only talk about bilateral relations with Russia, and in no way allude to representing European policy, that is, EU policy.
After Putin met with Orbán, an aide to the Russian president, Yuriy Ushakov, said they had a “frank conversation” about “all issues related to Ukraine.” The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that Orbán’s decision to visit Moscow was made “without approval or coordination” with Kyiv. They further added that the “principle of ‘no agreement on Ukraine without Ukraine’ remains inviolable” for that country and called on all countries to strictly adhere to it.
The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said in a statement that Orbán’s visit to Moscow “takes place exclusively within the framework of bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia.”
Prime Minister Orbán has not received any mandate from the Council of the EU to visit Moscow, said Borrell.
The spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov said that the visit to Moscow was Orbán’s idea and that it was agreed as late as Wednesday (on the 3rd of July 2024), Russian state news agency TASS reports. Peskov added that Moscow appreciates Orbán’s “strong, clear and consistent course” aimed at trying to resolve the conflict. Putin told Orbán that he wants to hear the position of “European colleagues” on Ukraine and to discuss Moscow’s plan for peace, as well as bilateral relations, some Macedonian-language media outlets reported.
Beijing: Great powers to invest positive energy
After Kyiv and Moscow, Orbán went on a third unannounced visit to Beijing, which once again attracted the attention of the world public, and thus also the local media.
In addition to Russia and Ukraine, the end of the war “depends on the decision of the three world powers, the United States, the European Union, and China”, Orbán wrote in the post on Facebook where he can be seen shaking hands with Xi, according to some of the Macedonian-language media outlets.
At the meeting, Xi Jinping told Orbán that the world powers should help Russia and Ukraine to start direct peace negotiations again, the state television CCTV reported.
The international community should create conditions and provide assistance for both sides to continue direct dialogue and negotiations – Xi told Orbán, adding: Only when all major powers project positive energy rather than negative energy can a cease-fire occur in this conflict and as soon as possible, said the Chinese leader.
Peskov’s praise for Orbán
The spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov said that Orbán is not carrying a message to Beijing from Vladimir Putin, as reported by some of the Macedonian-language media outlets.
When asked if Putin conveyed a message to Biden and other participants of the NATO Summit through Orbán, who visited Moscow on the 5th of July, Peskov answered in the negative.
He added that Orbán, who previously visited Kyiv and Moscow, and then Beijing, from where he will travel to Washington, “takes serious initiative to compare the views of different parties, based on primary sources.”
We appreciate it very much and President Putin gave a high rating to Mr. Orbán’s efforts, Peskov noted.
The spokesman, previously answering a journalist’s question, said that the Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan cannot be a mediator in the possible talks between Russia and Ukraine, local media outlets reported.
The Hungarian leader predicted NATO “suicide”
Orbán’s peace mission, which he went to unannounced, added to the disinformation from Moscow about who is in favor of war and who was in favor of peace, and with the fact it provoked scandalous condemnations in European capitals and division between most of the Union and Hungary. However, Orbán’s participation in the NATO summit in Washington, which marked the 75th anniversary of the alliance’s existence and which took place after his visits to Moscow and Beijing, also drew considerable attention.
The day before the summit, in an op-ed published by “Newsweek”, Orbán predicted “suicide” for NATO, in the context of the policy towards Ukraine.
“…The great historian Arnold Toynbee argued that ‘Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder’. As the strongest military alliance the world has ever known, it is not defeat at the hands of any external enemy that we should fear. An external enemy, if it has any sense, will not dare to launch an attack on any NATO member country. But we should very much fear our own rejection of the values that gave birth to our alliance. The purpose for which NATO was created was to secure peace in the interest of stable economic, political and cultural development. NATO fulfills its purpose when it wins peace, not war. If it chooses conflict instead of cooperation, and war instead of peace, it will be committing suicide,” Orbán wrote, and one of the media outlets that published Orbán’s text in its entirety conveyed it.
The dispute between Brussels and Budapest is deepening
The dispute between Orbán and the EU came to an end in July when the EU revoked Hungary’s right to organize the August summit of EU heads of diplomacy planned for Budapest, Macedonian-language media outlets reported.
The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, has revoked the right of Hungary to organize the next meeting of the foreign and defense ministers of the EU member states, because of the attitude towards the war in Ukraine.
The decision comes weeks after Hungary took over the EU presidency, so Budapest was due to host the ministers, but Brussels is angry with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán over self-initiated meetings in Moscow with Vladimir Putin and in Beijing with Xi Jinping.
According to Borrell, such actions by Hungary should bear consequences. According to Hungary, on the other hand, Borrell’s action is “completely childish.”
According to the agenda, the meeting of the ministers should take place from the 28th to the 30th of August. Instead of Budapest, the meeting will now be in Brussels.
Earlier, Orbán in a letter to Charles Michel presented his plan for achieving peace in Ukraine, specifically the conclusions of Hungary after talks in Kiev, Moscow, Beijing, and the United States.
In the letter, the Prime Minister of Hungary called for talks with China on a “peace conference”, the restoration of diplomatic relations with Russia, and, as he states, “a political offensive against the countries of the Global South, whose respect we have lost due to our stance on the war in Ukraine.” – “Bild” reports.
The report contains ten points, and when it comes to the war in Ukraine, the Hungarian Prime Minister assesses that in the near future the intensity of the conflict will radically increase, reported Nova Makedonija.
Orbán also writes that he will cooperate with US presidential candidate Donald Trump in peace efforts.
“I can say with certainty that soon after the election victory, Trump will not wait for his inauguration, but will immediately be ready to act as a mediator for peace. He has detailed and well-founded plans,“ Orbán wrote, while Radio Free Europe reported.
The assassination of Trump and the reactions
The unsuccessful attempt to assassinate the US presidential candidate, Donald Trump, as well as the reactions in the West and the East, were the main topic in Macedonian-language media outlets in mid-July. Among the more significant reactions, those from Moscow, Slovakia, and Serbia can be pointed out.
The spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, stated that in the United States, there is a long institutional policy of hate speech against political opponents and that a census of that “inventory” should be made.
“Two months ago, I paid attention to the fact that the US was literally fostering hatred toward political opponents, as well as provided examples of the American tradition of attempts and assassinations of presidents and presidential candidates,” Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel, citing her post on the history of assassinations and assassination attempts on American politicians.
She further added that instead of money for arms for Ukraine, the US should invest in domestic security:
All those who vote in the USA for the delivery of weapons to Zelensky (should know-author’s note) it might have been better to use this money to finance the American police and other services that are supposed to ensure order and peace in the United States. Today, President Joe Biden said that such events as an assassination attempt on a presidential candidate or any public figure are sick manifestations of the internal political life of the United States. What he did not say is that this is not only a sick manifestation of the internal political life, but also a tradition, it’s a tradition that, unfortunately, is becoming the norm.
Slovak leader Robert Fico, who was also recently the target of a failed assassination attempt with far worse consequences than Trump’s, also reacted:
“Political opponents of Donald Trump are trying to imprison him, and when they don’t succeed they enrage the public so much that some poor bugger picks up a gun. Now we will witness words about the need for reconciliation, calmness and forgiveness…” says the Slovak Prime Minister and links the situation to the media spreading hate speech against him in Slovakia.
If Donald Trump’s attacker speaks Slovak, it is enough for him to read three of their media outlets, the newspapers N, Sme, or Aktuality, to get the desire to “punish” the “disobedient”, Fico states on his Facebook profile.
Vulin: Vucic is next
Parallels are also drawn by influential politicians in Serbia. Aleksandar Vulin, the pro-Russian senior official, said that President Aleksandar Vucic would be next:
Let Vucic and everyone who has the courage to fight for freedom prepare. The assassination attempt on former President Trump is an expression of permitted and encouraged hatred, the same hatred that is encouraged and freely expressed towards Vucic and Serbia, he warned.
Deputy Prime Minister Vulin also recognized a parallel between the shooting of Trump and that of Fico but also mentioned the dead Iranian president, despite the fact that he lost his life in a helicopter crash. Vulin believes that it is no coincidence that these are people who advocated “for a different world and peace in Ukraine.”
The assassination attempt on Trump was otherwise condemned by leaders from around the world, who noted that such a thing is unacceptable. This included politicians from North Macedonia. The President of North Macedonia Siljanovska Davkova, the President of the Assembly Gashi, the Prime Minister Mickoski, the leader of SDSM (Social Democratic Union of Macedonia) Filipce, the leader of the political party ZNAM Movement (For our Macedonia) Dimitrievski, etc., also reacted.
Biden’s resignation is part of a wider conspiracy, according to Moscow
President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the US presidential elections caused a lot of reaction and disinformation coming from Moscow as well. The Kremlin claims that there was a conspiracy to keep Biden’s health condition hidden from the American public.
This conspiracy theory which was widely reported by Macedonian-language media outlets, was put forward by Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), emphasizing the role of the media outlets in the alleged conspiracy.
The next step should be an investigation into the conspiracy of the US media and political circles, which concealed the true state of affairs about his mental state, manipulating public opinion and playing with one political party, Zakharova told TASS, while local media reported.
What has been happening in the United States in recent years has taught us not to be surprised by anything. We were not very surprised, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said in his reaction. He added that the priority for Russia remains the achievement of the goals of the “special military operation” in Ukraine. The Kremlin cannot assess what Harris’ candidacy might mean for relations, as Moscow has so far not seen her contribution to those relations other than hostile rhetoric, Peskov said.
Harris has repeatedly expressed support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and accused Moscow of waging a “barbaric war.”
The Kremlin also commented on rival candidate Donald Trump, calling him a “representative of the US political elite” who also “suffers from Russophobia.” At the same time, the Kremlin rejected accusations that Russia interfered in the US presidential election, estimating that there will be more accusations of that sort, until November when the elections are held. “The Americans cannot think of a better enemy than Russia,” said Peskov.
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