Brussels, my love? Orbán’s trip to Kyiv and Moscow

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Our guests for this week are Shada Islam from the New Horizons Project, Richard Schenk from MCC Brussels and Antonios Nestoras from the European Liberal Forum.

Panelists comment on the changing of the guard at EU ministerial meetings, with Belgium passing the baton of presidency to the far more controversial choice of Hungary.

With the provocative slogan “Make Europe Great Again”, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán started his six-month term in office with a bang.

After his visit to Brussels, he made a detour to Ukraine to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky before making a surprise trip to Russia to meet Vladimir Putin.

His trip to Kyiv was welcomed by European heads of state and government, but his trip to Moscow was – perhaps understandably – not so well received.

There is no reason for concern, says Richard Schenk.

“We will not see a new type of Viktor Orbán,” said Schenk.

“He is now the longest-serving prime minister in Europe,” he said, adding that because of Budapest’s previous term in office in 2011, they know “that Hungary will not deliberately throw stones into the European machinery.”

Panelists also addressed the recent decision by EU leaders to nominate Ursula von der Leyen, Kaja Kallas and António Costa as lead candidates for the main EU institutions, with the first two still needing the green light from the European Parliament.

Shada Islam said the trio were a “good team.”

Costa is “changing the color of European leadership,” she said.

“He has some Mozambican blood in him,” she added. “Brussels, so white, finally has a leader who is not so white, and hopefully not in his head either, in the way he looks at the world.”

Richard Schenk disagreed.

“This trio confirms the worst prejudices in Europe about the fact that politicians who have had difficulties at national level flee to Brussels to pursue their careers,” he said.

Watch “Brussels, my darling?” in the player above. The recording took place before Orbán’s meeting with Putin.