Sweden criticizes Hungary’s Orban for meeting with Putin

By Leila Nezirevic

LONDON (AA) – Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson sharply criticized his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban during a NATO summit in Washington, D.C. on Thursday for visiting Russia earlier this month.

Kristersson confirmed at a press conference that the Nordic country will not be sending ministers to meetings of the European Union led by Hungary.

“Our reaction is crystal clear. We have been extremely clear. He (Orban) is in practice abusing the EU presidency and hijacking it for his own purposes,” he said, referring to Orban’s visit to Moscow earlier this month, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On July 1, Hungary took over the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, and on the following day, Orban traveled to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, followed by a trip to Russia, where he met with Putin.

Since the visit, the Hungarian government has said that it only aimed to negotiate a cease-fire in the war-torn country and that the trips were a “peace mission.”

But Orban’s visit to Moscow drew strong condemnation from European and NATO countries, with the EU’s legal service telling member states Wednesday that his trip is in breach of EU treaties, according to the Financial Times newspaper.

“As a chairing country, you must be an honest broker, give the impression that you speak for other countries. I have been very clear about that. He does not speak for the EU's heads of state and government and even less for the unified EU system when he goes to Russia. All discussions about Ukraine take place with Ukraine. We have been very critical of it,” Kristersson was quoted as saying by national broadcaster SVT Nyheter.

Kristersson said his country agreed with several other countries not to participate in informal meetings that do not have any decision-making agendas.

“That is a clear indication that we do not appreciate what they are doing with their presidency. It is simply not the expectation one has of the presidency,” he added.

On Wednesday, NATO allies said that Orban’s visit to Moscow was not helpful.

“We don’t see it advancing the peace process, and it certainly doesn’t help Ukraine,” Michael Carpenter, senior director for Europe at the US National Security Council, told reporters in Washington.