Russian leadership blatantly humiliated Orbán, Russia expert says

The Russian leadership has blatantly humiliated Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Russia expert András Rácz wrote on his Facebook page about Tuesday's Orbán-Putin meeting. The Kremlin released a video in which, according to the expert, the Hungarian Prime Minister appeared visibly nervous in Putin's company. “ There was no reason for the Russian leadership to release this particular footage. Yet they chose to do so, thus blatantly humiliating the Hungarian Prime Minister.”

Rácz believes that the Russian leadership released the video, which is not very favourable to Orbán, because "they wanted to demonstrate to both their audience at home and to the outside world that Moscow is the dominant party in this relationship, while the Hungarian Prime Minister is clearly in a subordinate role." At the end of his post, the expert concludes by saying that in his view the silence of the otherwise bellicose Hungarian diplomacy on the case does not bode well.

Viktor Orbán was the only European politician to attend the Beijing Belt and Road Forum, where he also met with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. According to reports, Orbán avoided using the term "war" in his talks with the Russian president, saying that "our relationship has suffered much damage because of the military operations and the sanctions." In a Tuesday video, the Prime Minister said he had asked Putin when there would be a cease-fire because he was fed up with the sanctions, but the answer he received was far from reassuring. Speaking about his talks with the Hungarian Prime Minister, Putin later said that Orbán is a leader who knows how to stand up for his interests.