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The European Union must engage Russia if it is to build a “sustainable security architecture”, Hungary\u2019s minister for EU affairs, J\u00e1nos B\u00f3ka, said on Wednesday in an interview with Euronews.<\/p>\n
“If we are willing to build a sustainable security architecture for decades to come, somehow, the relationship between Europe and Russia needs to be devised,” B\u00f3ka said.<\/p>\n
“We, just like all member states of the European Union, believe that we need to fully support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” he added. “I think this is beyond question, but I also believe that a sustainable security architecture is not possible without engaging Russia through diplomatic channels.”<\/p>\n
Last Friday, Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n sparked backlash from EU leaders<\/strong>when he paid a surprise visit to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow as part of what the Hungarian premier describes as “Peace Mission 3.0.” <\/p>\n The meeting with Putin followed a trip to Ukraine for similar talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.<\/p>\n The timing of the Moscow trip, days after Budapest took up the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, and the use of the EU presidency branding in communications relating to the so-called peace mission has fuelled ire<\/strong> in Brussels.<\/p>\n European Council President Charles Michel said<\/strong> in a scathing response that the “EU rotating presidency has no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU.”<\/p>\n It came days before Kyiv\u2019s largest children\u2019s hospital was struck in an attack which, according to a UN analysis, was caused by a direct Russian missile<\/strong>. At least two people were killed at the hospital and about 50 were injured, including seven children.<\/p>\n Pressed on whether Hungary’s overtures to Putin were appropriate given the Kremlin’s coinciding atrocities in Ukraine, B\u00f3ka replied: “The bombing, it’s horrible, it’s terrible.”<\/p>\n “I think the loss of human life and the damage that has been caused in this war (…) just underscores the importance of the peace mission of the prime minister of Hungary,” he explained.<\/p>\n In a letter addressed to Michel and EU leaders, seen by<\/strong> German news agency DPA, Orb\u00e1n justified his Moscow trip given its economic knock-on effect on the 27-country bloc. <\/p>\n Orb\u00e1n is reported to have claimed in the letter that Putin expects a rapid collapse on the Ukrainian side in the coming months.<\/p>\n B\u00f3ka told Euronews that the Hungarian premier’s trip was designed to “find out whether there is any willingness” on either side for a ceasefire and assess how the EU institutions can be “helpful” in brokering a way out of the conflict.<\/p>\n “Quite a few member states believe that our strategic objectives can be reached by military means on the battlefield. The intention of the prime minister was to provide additional information and clarification that could feed into these discussions,” B\u00f3ka said, adding that Orb\u00e1n had confidentially briefed both Michel and EU heads of state and government on the outcome of his trip.<\/p>\nOrb\u00e1n was ‘in search of willingness for ceasefire’<\/h2>\n