First Cracks in the Anti-Orban Front in German Media
The failed EU institutions have strongly and repeatedly denounced Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s peace mission, which took him, consecutively, to Kyiv, Moscow, Beijiig and then to Washington for the NATO summit, followed by a quick visit to candidate Trump. Thus Brussels has boycotted and is even plotting to disavow Hungary’s six-month Presidency of the EU Council. However, a few mainstream media in Europe have broken ranks to cautiously endorse Orban’s initiative.
That is the case with the influential German liberal-conservative daily Die Welt, whose Brussels correspondent Christoph Schiltz published a commentary titled “Viktor Orbán Deserves a Chance”. Noting that Orbán has failed to clearly condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, concerning his attempts at diplomacy, Schiltz writes that one might “condemn these efforts as not being agreed upon with Brussels or as the ego trip of an aspiring big shot”. However “Orbán’s solo act is not so wrong. The Hungarian deserves a chance. Alongside Turkish President Erdogan, Orbán is the only European and head of government in NATO who has good contacts with China and Russia.”
Schiltz then goes on with a twisted argument that those who criticize Orbán are not doing enough to allow Ukraine to militarily defeat Russia. Note that despite his pro-Ukraine statements, Kyiv’s infamous Center for Countering Disinformation included Schiltz in 2022 on its list of those “promoting the Russian narrative”.
Moreover, Germany’s largest circulation tabloid, Bild, conducted a long video interview with Orbán July 8. The deputy editor-in-chief of Bild, Paul Ronzheimer, asked the standard anti-Putin questions, although without the standard hysteria. Most importantly, he actually let the Hungarian Prime Minister speak without interrupting him. The main point the latter made was that, if the U.S., the EU, and China agree that there should be peace, then it will happen. He charged Brussels with merely copying the U.S. position, to the detriment of Europe itself.
