- 'I fear that Viktor Orban has not been playing for the European team for some time now,’ according to Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob

BERLIN

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and visiting Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob on Friday criticized Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban's trip to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Speaking at a joint news briefing in Berlin, Merz also recalled the intensified Russian airstrikes following Orban's Moscow visit in July last year, “immediately after he took office as European Council President.”

“That visit was not only unsuccessful. A few days after the visit, the Russian army launched some of its most violent attacks against civilian infrastructure and civilian targets in Ukraine. I hope that Russia will not react in the same way this time. But he is traveling without a European mandate and without consulting us,” Merz added.

Orban no longer 'playing for the European team'

Meanwhile, Golob echoed Merz’s criticism of Orban’s trip to Moscow, saying the Hungarian prime minister was acting primarily in his own interests.

“I fear that Viktor Orban has not been playing for the European team for some time now,” Golob said, according to the official transcript of the press briefing.

This visit also fits into this context. “We do not expect any benefits or advantages from this visit,” he added.

The Hungarian leader is reportedly meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin in Moscow today to discuss energy supplies and the war against Ukraine.

Putin and Orban have repeatedly held direct talks during Russia's war in Ukraine.

In a related development, the German government called on Putin “to come to the (negotiation) table.”

“Peace talks make no sense if they are only conducted by one side; Vladimir Putin must become an active part of this process. That is what we are focusing on…,” deputy chancellery spokesman Steffen Meyer told journalists in Berlin.