Orbán may meet with Zelenskyy next week, probably in Ukraine

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán  may meet with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy next week to take a step towards improving relations between Kyiv and Budapest under pressure from the EU.

Source: a European Pravda article

Details: The Hungarian prime minister decided to send a signal of a change in attitude towards Ukraine at the EU summit held on 27-28 June in Brussels. Among other things, Orbán's political director announced a new meeting between the prime minister and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The official reason he gave was the start of Hungary's presidency of the EU Council, which begins on 1 July. But, as European Pravda recalls, Hungarian officials have so far rejected the possibility of such a meeting.

"I have personally said several times that Orbán should go to Ukraine and finally talk to Zelenskyy. And I hope this will happen," a member of the European Council told European Pravda off the record.

The EP reported that Orbán was under pressure from his partners, who convinced him that his public conflict with Ukraine had dragged on for too long and that it had to be put to an end. In particular, the Hungarian prime minister was persuaded by French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The latter heads the group of European Conservatives and Reformists, which Orbán and his Fidesz party want to join in order to have more influence on decision-making in the European Parliament. The Italian prime minister demanded that her Hungarian counterpart demonstrate that his conflict with Kyiv was over.

Recently, Viktor Orbán approached Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the EU summit. The two leaders shook hands and then had a charged conversation.

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