BRUSSELS, July 11. /TASS/. The EU’s legal service said that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s visit to Russia on July 5 contravened the EU’s treaties, the Financial Times (FT) said, citing informed sources.
According to them, the EU’s legal service told member states on Wednesday that Orban’s actions had violated the bloc’s treaties that forbid any "measure which could jeopardize the attainment of the Union’s objectives." In particular, this involves breaching a legal provision that calls on all EU members to perform foreign policy activities "unreservedly in a spirit of loyalty and mutual solidarity."
"This was a political mistake to go to Moscow," European Council President Charles Michel told the newspaper. "In 10 years, I have never seen such a severe reaction from 26 other countries to the actions of [one country]," he added. "This is a problem. This way of working is not acceptable," Michel noted.
He added that he met with Orban at a NATO summit in Washington and interacted with other EU leaders in order to decide what to do next. "With an attempt to divide the union <...> we have to avoid falling into a trap," said Michel.
On July 5, Orban visited Moscow where he discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin potential ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and launch peace talks. Later, he visited Beijing where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and exchanged views on the prospects for resolving the Ukrainian crisis. On July 2, Orban visited Kiev, where he discussed the issue with Vladimir Zelensky.