Putin, Orban to discuss sanctions They will also explore expanding Hungary’s nuclear power plant
Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Budapest on Thursday to cement closer ties with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, amid growing EU rifts over sanctions against Moscow.
The meeting with the right-wing Orban — who wants the European Union to lift its punitive measures — is Putin’s first visit to a bloc member since the shock election of US President Donald Trump in November.
The Kremlin hopes that Trump’s apparent affinity for Putin will lead to a thaw in frosty ties between Moscow and Washington.
Relations with the West have plunged to a post-Cold War low over Russia’s meddling in Ukraine where violence again escalated this week despite a December ceasefire.
The Eurosceptic Orban — one of the few leaders to publicly support Trump — enjoys close ties with Putin but has yet to break ranks with the EU and formally oppose the sanctions battering the Russian economy for the last three years.
However experts say Trump’s ascendancy and the wave of populism sweeping across Europe could now billion embolden the two strongmen to push harder against the EU.
“Orban will take a step closer to Putin in terms of rhetoric due to change in the international context,” said political analyst Andras Deak in Budapest.
EU sanctions were extended in December until the end of July 2017, despite some nations increasingly questioning their impact.
Speaking ahead of Putin’s visit, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said the EU sanctions against Russia have failed to achieve their objectives and cost Hungary some $6.7 billion in export opportunities. He also pointed at what he described as the previous U.S. administration’s pressure on Hungary to prevent it from warming up to Moscow.
Brussels’ focus on maintaining unity on Russia sanctions could take a backseat as fears mount that Trump’s policies pose a major threat to the already bickering bloc and nationalist parties gear up for elections in the Netherlands, France and Germany.
Putin landed in Budapest shortly after noon. The city was in lockdown, with police closing off several major boulevards.
The Kremlin said the visit “bears witness to the personal ties and confidence” between Orban and Putin.
The pair have met regularly over the past six years and Orban was the first European leader to welcome Putin after his annexation of the Black Sea Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.
While state media hailed the new meeting as a sign of Hungary’s key role in improving East-West relations, the left-leaning news website 444.hu said Putin was counting on Orban to help “disrupt the (EU and NATO) from the inside”.
Ahead of the visit Putin’s top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said talks would focus on “developing economic ties”.
Discussions will include Russia’s planned expansion of Hungary’s only nuclear power plant and other energy issues, with Budapest highly dependent on Russian gas imports.
Construction of two 1,200 megawatt reactors at the Paks plant outside Budapest has been viewed sceptically by the European Commission, which is yet to give its green light to the project.
The amount EU sanctions against Russia costs Hungary in export.