Emmanuel Macron wants to host Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán at bilateral talks in Paris on Wednesday, March 5th—just one day before the emergency European Council summit kicks off in Brussels.
The discussion will focus on the war in Ukraine, the Hungarian government confirmed on Tuesday, offering no additional information at the time.
Inviting Orbán for a pre-summit chat about Ukraine is unexpected, given that the Hungarian leader neither attended the two recent informal summits in Paris organized by the French President, nor the Keir Starmer-hosted London summit of the “coalition of the willing” last weekend. Among those who did, PM Orbán is often criticized for his strong pro-peace stance that’s been at odds with the European Union mainstream throughout the war.
Orbán’s approach is closely aligned with Trump’s: immediate ceasefire to avoid further bloodshed, and then a negotiated peace through diplomacy. The PM believes the EU’s ‘peace through strength’ approach—financing and arming Ukraine “as long as it takes” for it to reach a better negotiating position—is not only unrealistic but threatens to sacrifice tens of thousands of additional lives for little to no gain.
While Macron is eager to provide security guarantees and even deploy French ‘boots on the ground,’ there’s one thing that he and Orbán seem to agree on. Like the Hungarian PM, Macron also called for a temporary, one-month ceasefire during the London talks, which could be one of the points the two will be discussing in Paris.
Another reason for the invitation could be Hungary’s promised veto against the EU-proposed €20 billion military aid package—on top of the €60 billion already on its way this year. However, Macron not only knows that Orbán (and Slovak PM Robert Fico) will not be persuaded to back the proposal no matter how much he tries but it was also reported that Paris—along with other EU capitals—was also secretly opposing it and is relieved that Budapest and Bratislava take the blame again.
It could also be that Macron needs a ‘Trump whisperer,’ and no one is better for the role than Orbán, who met the President twice during last year’s electoral campaign and has been in close contact with Washington about the peace process. Although Italian PM Giorgia Meloni already said she wants to build the bridge between the London coalition and Trump, the fact that she seemingly plays for both teams puts her at a disadvantage in Washington.
