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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is due to meet former U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, days after making a controversial visit to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Orban, the EU’s most pro-Russia leader and Trump’s most vocal supporter, is due to travel to Florida immediately after the NATO summit in Washington to meet with Republican candidates for November’s presidential election, according to a person familiar with the plans.
A senior adviser to President Trump confirmed his meeting with Prime Minister Orban on Thursday, saying: Orban There’s no point in negotiating secret agreements.”
The Hungarian leader opposes Western military aid to Ukraine and has called for immediate peace talks to end the conflict, even though Russia occupies large parts of Ukraine, and Kiev opposes negotiations. Orban’s Visit to Moscow last week Breached EU regulationsBrussels said yesterday:
A meeting with Trump is likely to further infuriate other EU leaders. Angry Orban has broken with the EU’s united foreign policy stance by not informing allies of his planned meetings, two EU diplomats told the Financial Times.
Orban will have dinner with President Joe Biden and 30 other NATO leaders at the White House on Wednesday night and then fly to Florida on Thursday for the final day of the military alliance’s two-day summit.
Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the EU Council of Ministers on July 1, a role that allows members of Orbán’s government to chair the meeting.
Orban has met with Trump multiple times, is a frequent guest speaker at pro-Trump events and has aligned his nationalist, anti-immigration policies with the former president’s rhetoric. The Hungarian-born prime minister last visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in March.
Balas Orbán, a leading political adviser to the prime minister, said in comments posted on X on Wednesday that he believes Trump’s “position is the most pro-European when it comes to our own defense. First and foremost, we are responsible for our own security.”
While other European capitals fear a Trump reelection, Orban has long viewed Trump’s candidacy favorably, given the former U.S. leader’s protectionist stance and his doubts about the U.S.’s responsibility to defend NATO allies if attacked.
Orban’s visit, first reported by Bloomberg, came alongside other European leaders, ministers and officials who are in Washington for the NATO summit. Meet with Trump-related foreign policy officials Take Keith Kellogg, former chief of staff to President Trump’s National Security Council.
