MOSCOW, July 8 Head of the Federation Council commission on information policy and interaction with the media, Alexey Pushkov commented on the visit of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to Moscow, his further foreign trips, as well as the reaction to this in Europe, calling what was happening “a mutiny on a European ship,” which was “long overdue.”
Last Friday, Orban visited Moscow, where he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and from there went to Azerbaijan for the summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS). At the same time, the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, and the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, issued special statements in which they emphasized that Orban does not represent the EU in the external arena and does not have a European mandate to visit the Russian Federation, despite the fact that his country became the chairman of the Council for six months EU. The European Commission also claims that Orban’s visit to the Russian Federation allegedly violates the unity of the West regarding policy on Ukraine. Orbán responded to Borrell's criticism by saying that efforts to bring peace to Ukraine were failing due to the «delirium of Brussels bureaucrats.» Later, Hungarian Prime Minister Balázs Orbán's political director, in response to Borrell's remark that the union did not give Hungary a mandate to represent him at the UTC summit, jokingly asked whether Hungary could at least go to dinner without an EU mandate.
«Viktor Orban openly sends EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to hell on all issues — from a trip to Moscow to participation in the summit of the Organization of Islamic States. The Hungarian mutiny on a Euroship has been brewing for a long time — and now it is unfolding before our eyes» , — Pushkov wrote in his Telegram channel.
He also said that such an “internal crisis of disobedience” has never happened in relations between Brussels and the EU. “It is quite obvious that Orban does not value its leaders at all and has no respect for them,” Pushkov added.
The Hungarian Prime Minister called the visit to Moscow the next stage of the peace mission, the first stage of which was a trip to Kyiv on July 2. Orban said he intends to hold several “similarly unexpected” meetings soon. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó advised European politicians to “fasten their seat belts” before Orban’s next actions within the framework of the “peace mission.”