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[Global Times Report] According to reports from the British "Guardian" and "Financial Times" on the 16th local time, Hungarian Prime Minister Orban wrote a letter to the European Union after meeting with former US President Trump to remind him that if Trump is elected, it means that the financial burden of supporting the war in Ukraine will be transferred to the European Union.

Since Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the European Union on July 1, Orban has visited Ukraine, Russia and China, and then met with former US President Trump after attending the NATO summit in Washington, D.C. Orban called the recent series of visits a "peace mission" and said that ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict is Hungary's priority.

On the 11th local time, Orban posted on social media X to confirm that he met with Trump. Source: Social Media X

According to the report, Orban wrote in a letter to Charles Michel, President of the European Council, "Before the election, we cannot expect Trump to put forward any peace initiatives." According to the report, Orban also mentioned in the letter that based on discussions with leaders of Russia, Ukraine and other countries, the general view is that "the intensity of military conflicts will escalate sharply in the near future." Orban suggested that the EU should resume direct diplomatic communication with Russia and start "high-level dialogue" with China to promote a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

The Guardian said Orban also said in the letter that if Trump is elected, it will mean that the financial burden of supporting the war in Ukraine will be transferred to the European Union.

“I am quite sure that if Trump wins, the proportion of the financial burden between the United States and the European Union will change significantly, and the European Union will be at a disadvantage in terms of financial support for Ukraine,” he wrote in the letter.

In response, Michel wrote back on Tuesday warning that he (Orban) "has no role to speak on behalf of the EU internationally" and has no authorization to do so, which he had been informed of before his diplomatic visit, the report said.

The Financial Times said Orban declined to comment. Trump's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to a previous report by the Associated Press, Orban's "peace mission" has caused "anger" among some EU leaders, who said they were not informed of Orban's visit plan in advance. Some senior EU officials also said they would boycott Hungary's hosting of the EU Council meeting. In response, Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs hinted that the decision was a product of political bias, writing on the social media platform X that "institutional settings are sacrificed for private political purposes, and the role of the (European Commission) is ignored for ideological and political motives."

According to Hungarian media reports on the 15th local time, Hungarian Prime Minister Orban has submitted suggestions to EU leaders on resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The report quoted the Hungarian Prime Minister's political policy director, Balaz, as saying that there are "war-supporting" political forces within the EU, and the EU is following the United States, while the United States wants the conflict to continue. Balaz said that if Europe wants peace and wants to have a decisive say in resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it must now formulate a plan to change the course and implement it.