Germany criticizes Hungary's EU presidency for 'caused a lot of damage'
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (Photo: facebook.com/orbanviktor)
The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has criticized Hungary for causing damage due to its presidency of the Council of the European Union, according to The Guardian.
As the agency reminds, Budapest took over the presidency on July 1. Since then, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has sparked disputes within the EU with his trips to Russia and China despite not receiving support from his colleagues in the bloc. Yesterday, the prime minister met with Donald Trump, the candidate for the presidency of the United States (USA).
"We have to see how the Hungarian council presidency continues... We are now on day 12 and it has already caused a lot of damage," said a spokesperson for the German ministry in response to a question about how Berlin is reacting to Orbán's recent visits.
Orban's "peace mission"
As mentioned above, Orbán recently conducted a tour that angered many of his EU partners, including Ukraine.
After visiting Kyiv, the head of the Hungarian government traveled to Moscow, where he met with dictator Vladimir Putin. Later, he visited China and gave talks to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the head of the Office of the President, noted that Orbán does not understand the nature of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and, therefore, cannot act as a mediator.
Read more about Orbán's visit to Moscow, his goals, and the reaction of European politicians in the article by RBC-Ukraine.
