Summit in Washington
Finally, another scandal: Hungary provokes at NATO summit

Like Orban, Trump is considered open to negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo
© Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP/dpa
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban leaves the NATO summit early to meet Donald Trump. His representative blames Germany and the other allied states.
At the end of the alliance summit in Washington, the Hungarian government accused NATO partners of double standards and failure in dealing with the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. “We will continue to advocate dialogue and diplomatic channels, as the current strategy of the last two and a half years has been a total failure,” said Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, according to a spokesman, in a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selensky. Szijjarto represented Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who summit early to meet former US President Donald Trump in Florida.
Specifically, Szijjarto criticized the inconsistency of NATO rejecting dialogue with Russia while Israel is being pressured to negotiate with Hamas.
“They want Israel to negotiate with a terrorist organization to resolve a security crisis while diplomatic channels are closed for the Ukraine war,” he said.
Suspicion of secret negotiations
Szijjarto also criticised the inconsistency of pressure being put on EU countries such as Hungary to end nuclear cooperation with Russia, while trade between the US and Russia, particularly in the area of uranium, is increasing. He also asked whether there might be secret negotiations.
Regarding Ukraine’s desire to join NATO, Szijjarto said that from Hungary’s point of view, NATO membership for Ukraine could weaken the alliance. It is therefore important to examine membership carefully.
NATO partners disagree
After the summit, participants said that Hungary had been isolated during the discussion. Several allies had also made it clear that they did not agree with the statements made by the Hungarian foreign minister.
Orban’s trip to Trump had already sparked discussions at the summit before his foreign minister’s speech. The former US president, who is now running for president again after being voted out of office four years ago, is considered, like Orban, to be open to negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. After a meeting in March, Orban described Trump as the “president of peace,” while the American praised the Hungarian as the “best leader” ever.
Orban posted a photo of the meeting, which took place at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, on X and wrote: “Peace Mission 5.0 (…) We discussed ways to #peace. The good news of the day: He will solve it!”
Scholz receives question about Orban
Orban’s trips, described as a “peace mission”, had taken him to Ukraine, Russia and China before the USA.
This caused a stir, especially in Brussels, because Hungary currently holds the rotating EU Council Presidency and the Kremlin exploited the Moscow visit for its propaganda purposes.
However, Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected calls for consequences such as an early end to the Hungarian Council Presidency. “There are no such considerations,” he told the press after the summit.
NATO Summit website