Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in Beijing on Monday, courting another authoritarian partner after talks with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin in Moscow last week.
Announcing Orban’s visit to Beijing, China’s official news agency Xinhua said only that Xi would hold “an in-depth discussion with him on issues of mutual concern.” The last time the leaders met was two months ago, when Xi visited Budapest as part of a campaign to restore Chinese influence in Europe.
Chinese state television said Xi and Orban were holding talks at the Diaooyutai State Guesthouse, but gave no further details.
The meeting will give Xi and Orban, a rare case in the European Union when it comes to support on Ukraine and other issues, a chance to urge the bloc to distance itself from Washington. Hungary this month began its six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, giving Orban a higher profile, though not much more influence, on broader European affairs.
“Our two countries, China and Hungary, have similar philosophies and both value independence and self-initiative,” Xi told Orban in May, according to an official Chinese summary of their talks.
Western European leaders have long distanced themselves from Orban and, when he visited Moscow last week, stressed that he was not speaking on behalf of the European Union. They are likely to take a similarly sceptical stance towards Orban’s talks with Xi in Beijing, during which the two leaders are expected to discuss the war in Ukraine.
Orban’s visit to China comes ahead of a three-day NATO summit in Washington that begins Tuesday. At those talks, President Biden and other Western leaders are likely to offer Ukraine more support in its war against Russian encroachment — though not the NATO membership its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has called for.
Orban described his trip to Beijing as a continuation of his mission to bring “peace” to Ukraine, a term Hungary has used to describe a deal built on Ukrainian capitulation to Russian demands. His visit to Russia last week was the first time a European Union leader had traveled there for official talks with Putin since the early months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Before his visit to Moscow, Orbán met Zelensky in kyiv, which observers saw as a move by the Hungarian leader to try to end his isolation in Europe over Ukraine. His visits to Ukraine, Russia and China were not announced in advance.
Mr Orban has made broad calls for Moscow and kyiv to agree to a ceasefire and direct talks, but has not issued any specific public proposals for a lasting deal.
Similarly, Xi has promoted a vague framework for peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, while taking care to maintain strong ties with Putin.
Talks between Orban and Xi will provide an opportunity to underline their shared antipathy toward Western security alliances and criticism of human rights.
A former critic of the Chinese Communist Party, Orban has emerged as a staunch ally. He often opposes European Union criticism of China’s hardline policies in Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang, the western region where Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups have faced mass detentions.
In May, Xi and Orban officially upgraded China-Hungary relations to a “comprehensive all-weather strategic partnership,” Chinese diplomatic terminology suggesting a deep and enduring bond.
“We regard each other as priority partners for cooperation,” Xi wrote at the time about relations with Hungary.