Hungary assures EU that 'peacekeeping mission' for Ukraine is over

Hungarian Minister for European Affairs János Boka wrote a note with this statement to the EU countries, El Pais reports.

At the same time, the media notes that some diplomats doubt the veracity of the statement and believe that Orban may launch such a "mission" when it is beneficial to him.

It is emphasized that the meetings of the head of the Hungarian government within the framework of the "peacekeeping mission" in Russia and China angered the European Union, whose Council is currently chaired by Budapest.

Viktor Orban's "peacekeeping mission" 

On July 1, Hungary took over the EU Council presidency for six months, adopting the slogan "Make Europe Great Again."

On July 4, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited Kyiv and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

On July 5, Orbán visited Moscow and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling for a ceasefire.

On July 8, Orbán traveled to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, discussing "steps to achieve peace in Ukraine." His next stop is Washington.

On July 11, Valerie Hayer, head of the liberal Renew Europe group, urged the European Council to explore ways to strip Hungary of its EU Council presidency, accusing Orbán of acting against the bloc's interests.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, commenting on Orban's self-styled "peacekeeping mission", said that Ukraine would be rightly concerned about any attempt to negotiate a peace agreement without Kyiv's involvement.

Later, it was reported that EU foreign ministers intended to ignore Hungary by organizing their own summit in August instead of travelling to Budapest for Orban's event.

On July 18, Ursula von der Leyen said that Prime Minister Viktor Orban's visit to Russia was not a "mission of peace" - it was a "mission of appeasement of the aggressor".