fPresident Vladimir Putin spoke with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for almost five hours on Tuesday in the Kremlin. What Moscow calls “hysteria” — Western concerns about the build-up on the borders with Ukraine and annexed Crimea — was testified to by Putin’s opening remark that he wanted to “exchange views with you about the current security situation in Europe.” Putin sees this as a threat to Russia and its “people’s republics” in the Donbass.
When Putin went before the press with Orbán, he did not want to pre-empt Russia’s official response to America’s and NATO’s responses to Moscow’s demanded “security guarantees.” But for the first time Putin named which three demands are most important to him: NATO should refrain from any future enlargement; should not deploy missile systems “near the Russian borders”; should withdraw its “military infrastructure” to the status before the conclusion of the NATO-Russia Founding Act of 1997, i.e. before the alliance’s eastward expansion. One could say that “basic Russian concerns have been ignored,” Putin complained.
The dissent with Washington and NATO, which are willing to talk about armament issues such as medium-range missiles, is becoming clear. On the other hand, Putin is primarily concerned with the “neutralization” of Central and Eastern Europe. He accused Ukraine of “systemic” human rights violations and cited a hypothetical attempt by Kiev to recapture Crimea militarily as the reason for the war. “I’m not even talking about the Donbass now,” Putin said, referring to the “people’s republics” whose actual connection to Russia the Kremlin is promoting. Should Ukraine be a member of NATO during an attack on Crimea, “should we then fight with the NATO bloc?” Putin said. Like Georgia, the Ukraine had received a promise of membership in 2008, which, however, was not kept due to consideration for Russia.
Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán in conversation on February 1, 2022 in the Kremlin in Moscow
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Image: AP
Putin again accused the West of wanting to “contain” Russia, with “Ukraine being just an instrument”. The appearance did not indicate any relaxation, but rather the Russian desire to address the “security guarantees” in many forums. Putin said he hopes to talk about the demands soon with French President Emmanuel Macron, who plans to visit Russia.
Prospects of further cheap gas supplies from Russia
That put the importance of Orbán’s visit into perspective. According to official information, it was the twelfth encounter with Putin for the Hungarian. Hungary is one of Putin’s most important players in the EU. Budapest made all the more demonstrative efforts before this trip to Moscow to consult with its partners. Orbán spoke to Macron, the current EU Council President, as well as to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Orbán spoke in Moscow of a “peace mission” and stressed that the whole EU was in favor of a “political solution”. He also brought Hungary into play as a “model” for a country’s relations with Russia, as a member of the EU and NATO, which nonetheless maintains good relations with Russia.
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For Orbán, it was also about the upcoming Hungarian parliamentary elections on April 3 and the prospect of further cheap gas supplies from Russia. Putin gave the campaign assistant, emphasizing that the price for Hungary stipulated in the gas supply contract, which is valid until 2036, is “five times cheaper than the market price in Europe”, thanks to Orbán. Putin also promised Hungary additional gas supplies. However, their prospects could be clouded by reports from the Ukraine that gas was imported directly from Hungary for the first time.
Orbán thanked Putin “from the bottom of his heart” for the delivery of the Russian corona vaccine “Sputnik V”; Hungary was the only EU country to have approved this at the beginning of 2021. Putin said more than two million doses had been delivered to Hungary, Orbán replied that around 900,000 Hungarians had been vaccinated with the two-dose vaccine. That would leave more than 200,000 doses unvaccinated. For Orbán’s election campaign, the trip to Moscow is double-edged. His proximity to Russia is not particularly popular. On the other hand, the great stage of world politics is made for the prime minister to set himself apart from his challenger Péter Márki-Zay, the mayor of the city of Hódmezővásárhely.