FM Schetyna: Orban made a deal with Putin for cheap gas
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
18.02.2015 12:52
Hungary PM Viktor Orban’s tactic to ingratiate himself with Russian President Vladimir Putin could backfire, Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna said.
Photo: PAP/EPA/SZILARD KOSZTICSAK
Schetyna added that what Orban is doing is risky – especially when he allowed Putin to lay flowers at the monument of Soviet soldiers who died during the events in Budapest in 1956.
Putin and Orban on Tuesday agreed on a deal for Russia to keep supplying gas to Hungary.
Putin’s visit to an EU-member state was widely seen as a defiance of a European Union stance of keeping cool diplomatic relations with Russia.
This has been the first bilateral visit Putin has had in the European Union since the MH17 flight was downed over Ukraine allegedly by separatist soldiers in June 2014.
Next leg, Poland
Viktor Orban will be visiting Poland on Thursday to meet Polish PM Ewa Kopacz.
The two Prime Ministers are set to discuss the escalating crisis in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas after a ceasefire agreement was largely ignored.
“The issue of President Vladimir Putin's visit to Budapest will surely be addressed. But since each sovereign country decides which guests to invite, we will likely only hear about how the visit went,” said government spokesperson Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska. (rg)
Source: Polish Radio, Reuters