Orban Says Working to Shift EU Leaders' Ukraine Crisis Policy From 'Pro War to Pro People'
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Thursday he was working to convince the European leaders to shift the bloc's policy on the Ukraine conflict from "pro war to pro people," adding that the solution can be found at the negotiating table.
"Solution is not on the battlefield, solution is on the negotiation table, ceasefire, negotiation, that is what I try to convince them [EU leaders], but you know it takes time. My job is to convince them to shift from the pro war policy to pro people policy," Orban said ahead of the 4th European Political Community Summit at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, the United Kingdom.
The Hungarian prime minister said he was aware of "the whole context" and that it was "impossible" to find a solution to the Ukraine crisis on the battlefield.
Orban went on a "peace mission" tour this month, during which he visited Russia, Ukraine and China and met with their presidents to outline his vision of a peace process. Later, he also met with US presidential candidate and ex-president Donald Trump. Some EU leaders criticized what they see as misuse of the bloc's rotating presidency by Hungary's prime minister.
The European Political Community is an intergovernmental forum for political and strategic discussions established in 2022 at the proposal of French President Emmanuel Macron. He argued that Europe needed a structure for developing cooperation in such areas as geopolitics, energy, infrastructure, and transport with countries with which integration as close as that within the European Union is impossible. At the moment, the European Political Community lists 47 participating member states, including some aspiring EU candidates, such as Moldova and Ukraine.
