EU: Orbán has no mandate from the EU Council to visit Moscow

“The EU rotating presidency has no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU,” European Council President, Charles Michel, wrote on X on 4 July, reacting to the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s upcoming visit to Moscow. 

Orban met Russian President, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow on 5 July. Earlier, on 2 July, he visited Kyiv, Ukraine and met the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

“The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine,” Michel wrote on X.

EU High Representative Josep Borrell also made a statement on 5 July saying that Orbán’s visit to Moscow takes place “exclusively in the framework of the bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia”. 

He added that Hungary is now the EU Member State serving the rotating presidency of the Council until 31 December 2024. According to Borrell, that does not entail any external representation of the Union which is the responsibility of the President of the European Council at the Head of State or Government level and of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy at Ministerial level.

“Prime Minister Orbán has not received any mandate from the EU Council to visit Moscow,” said Borrell. “The EU position on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is reflected in many European Council conclusions. That position excludes official contacts between the EU and President Putin. The Hungarian Prime Minister is thus not representing the EU in any form.”

Borrell also recalled that President Putin has been indicted by the International Criminal Court and an arrest warrant released for his role in relation to the forced deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.

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Charles Michel’s post on X

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