News - Macron said that Orban negotiated with Russia not on behalf of EU

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's talks with Russia and China on Ukraine are his personal initiative, the EU did not give him a mandate to negotiate on its behalf. This was stated by French President Emmanuel Macron at a press conference on the margins of the NATO summit in Washington. "This only concerns Hungary, he did not receive any mandate to negotiate," he said. The president added that he had discussed it personally with the Hungarian prime minister. He said Orban is a legitimate head of government who is "independent in his diplomacy." "He visited these countries as prime minister of Hungary, it's very useful, it's his choice," Macron remarked. - By making these visits, he does not oblige us [the EU] to anything because he did not warn us about anything in advance." On July 5, Orban visited Moscow, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed possible ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and the start of peace talks. Later, the prime minister traveled to Beijing, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Prior to his visit to Russia, Orban discussed the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine with the president of that country, Volodymyr Zelensky, in Kyiv on July 2.