Hungary's Orban huddles with Xi on Ukraine during surprise China visit
'Peace mission' stop in Beijing follows controversial talks with Putin in Moscow
TOKYO -- Fresh off a controversial visit to Moscow, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made a surprise stop in Beijing on Monday for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
China "is a key power in creating the conditions" for making peace between Russia and Ukraine, Orban wrote on X, explaining why he came just two months after Xi visited Budapest. Chinese state media reported that Orban briefed Xi on his recent visits to Ukraine and Russia, and that Xi "stressed that an early cease-fire and a political settlement are in the interests of all parties."
China maintains a close relationship with Russia, and Xi himself met with Russian President Vladimir Putin last Wednesday in Kazakhstan.
Hungary, which just took over the European Union's rotating presidency, stands apart from most of the bloc due to its relatively warm ties with both Russia and China. "We hope that Hungary, as the rotating presidency of the EU, will play a positive role in promoting a healthy and stable development of China-EU relations," Xi was quoted as saying, just days after additional European tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles kicked in on a provisional basis.
Orban's Economy Ministry has sharply criticized Europe's move to impose what it termed "brutal" additional tariffs on Chinese EVs.
Negotiations between China and Europe over the tariffs are expected to continue before EU members vote later this year on whether to apply the levies for five years. Hungary is thought to be a useful voice for Beijing in pressuring European neighbors to, if not drop the tariffs entirely, at least water them down.
Hungary is also becoming a crucial production base for Chinese companies. When Xi went to Budapest in May, the two sides signed a slew of agreements as they established an "all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era."
Gabor Seprenyi, a former diplomat and a consultant at GR Japan -- a government relations consultancy firm headquartered in Tokyo -- said Orban's visit to China cannot be seen only in a bilateral context considering that Xi just spent three days in Hungary.
"Hungary has a lot at stake in the looming EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports," he said. "Hungary made an early bet on jumping on the EV bandwagon with the help of Chinese investment, and this strategy has just started to pay off: Chinese EV giant BYD is building its largest factory in the EU in Hungary, and several Chinese battery manufacturers, including CATL, are flocking to Hungary."
While this local production could help shield Chinese companies from the tariffs, escalating retaliatory actions could also pose a danger. "Any serious trade friction between the EU and China on EVs or batteries, especially high tariffs, would risk derailing this strategy and harm Hungary's interests," Seprenyi said.
Likewise, Budapest has pushed back against some European efforts to assist Ukraine in fending off Russia's invasion.
Orban's government describes his current tour as a "peace mission," but his trip to Russia last Friday was roundly condemned by European leaders.
"The EU rotating presidency has no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU," European Council President Charles Michel wrote on X. "The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine."
Orban had visited Ukraine days earlier. He defended his decision to meet with Russian President Putin by saying: "The number of countries that can talk to both warring sides is diminishing. Hungary is slowly becoming the only country in Europe that can speak to everyone."
The Hungarian prime minister was set to travel on to Washington to participate in this week's NATO summit, Reuters reported, citing his government office.
Stephen Nagy, professor of politics and international studies at International Christian University in Tokyo, said that Orban is attempting to speak to major stakeholders -- Ukraine, Russia and now China -- "in an effort to halt the [Ukraine] conflict as soon as possible."
"Hungary is neither pro-Russia, pro-China or anti-Ukraine," Nagy said. "They want the war to come to an end because of the negative impact on the Hungarian and European [economies], the devastating human toll."
Nagy said Orban is likely trying to show Hungary can be a "bridge state" between opposing powers. He also suggested the Hungarian leader "may be attempting to carve out a deal in which China provides concrete support to end the war by reducing support for Putin, by offering to speak to the EU about tariffs. Nobody really knows."
Chinese state news agency Xinhua's report on Monday's Xi-Orban meeting said the two leaders discussed the Ukraine crisis in depth, underlining Beijing's stance of calling for a cease-fire and creating conditions for direct negotiations. Xi said "the priority is to cool down the situation through observing the three principles of no expansion of the battlefield, no escalation of fighting, and no fanning by any party over the flames," according to the agency.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, whose country borders Russia, sees Orban's travels in a less positive light. "In Moscow, Viktor Orban in no way represents the EU or the EU's positions," she said on X. "He is exploiting the EU presidency position to sow confusion. The EU is united, clearly behind Ukraine and against Russian aggression."
Seprenyi argued that symbolism matters in diplomacy. He said it is significant that Orban "rushes to Moscow and Beijing immediately after taking over" the EU presidency, which Hungary holds until the end of this year.
"No matter what Orban or anyone else says, during the EU presidency, Orban will be seen by his partners not only as Hungary's prime minister but also as the president of the council, representing and speaking on behalf of the entire European Union," Seprenyi said.
"He and Hungary have only been a week into the EU presidency, but already managed to create diplomatic chaos and unite the entire European Union" against him, with the exception of Slovakia -- another opponent of the China tariffs.