Orban doubles down at EU summit to defend meeting Putin. One leader calls it a very wrong message
If a warm handshake with Russian President Vladimir Putin weren’t provocative enough, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban went into an EU summit Thursday saying he was right to meet the EU’s foremost enemy and that most of the other leaders were wrong.
Orban characterized himself as the only one actively seeking peace in Ukraine, though his controversial stance on Russia appears to have gained an ally within the EU with the addition of new Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, with both threatening to obstruct EU aid to Ukraine, much of which requires unanimity amid the 27 nations.
Most EU leaders weren’t taking it. “It’s really more than strange to see that we start to flirt with the regime who is committing very cruel atrocities,” said Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda. “It sends a very wrong message to anybody.”
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