By Fehér Péter*
BUDAPEST | 12 January 2025 (IDN) — Vladimir Dzhabarov, the first deputy chairman of the Russian parliament’s upper house committee on international affairs, mentioned in an interview that he considers Hungary an ideal location for a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. This was the first specific indication that the Hungarian capital could host the summit.
Previously, it was known that American and Russian experts had been discussing the summit’s location in Washington. However, Budapest was not among the leaked options. Dzhabarov was the first Russian politician to publicly name Budapest as the most likely venue for the summit.
Given the circumstances of Russian domestic politics, a high-ranking politician does not make such specific statements on their own. Moreover, it can be assumed that Dzhabarov’s statement was initiated by the highest Russian leadership.
The Russian senator’s announcement contained another interesting element. He claimed that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán could guarantee the safety of both politicians. This is noteworthy, considering that the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March last year. According to the ICC, the Russian president is responsible for crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine. It is evident that the ICC’s decision is politically motivated.
The ICC has no means to enforce the warrant. Without its own police force, the ICC relies on the cooperation of member states for enforcement. In practice, however, arresting individuals can be challenging. Hungary does not cooperate with the ICC. While Hungary signed the ICC’s founding statute in 1999 and the Hungarian parliament ratified it in 2001, it was never promulgated in Hungarian. Therefore, the ICC cannot legally compel the Hungarian government to act.
ICC’s arrest warrant for Putin
The problem arises because Hungary is a member of the European Union, which considers the ICC’s arrest warrant binding. It is clearly foolish to think that Hungary would arrest the Russian president in Budapest. This is why Dzhabarov referred to the Hungarian prime minister’s security guarantee in his statement.
Let’s examine another interesting part of the Russian senator’s statement. He said the two sides should meet on ”neutral” ground. However, Hungary is not neutral, as it is a NATO member. The word “neutral” was likely placed in quotation marks for this reason.
So, what does the term “neutral” imply here? It likely refers to the good relations Viktor Orbán has with both Trump and Putin. This is an important consideration, as Hungary is currently the most active in Europe regarding efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
Last summer, when Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the European Union, the Hungarian prime minister made a surprise visit to Kyiv and met with Zelensky. He then held talks with Putin in Moscow and Xi Jinping in Beijing. Following this, he had a meeting with Trump in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
Thus, Hungary’s peace mission began well before Trump’s election. It is also notable that the mission continues. Donald Trump has called Viktor Orbán several times, and it is telling that after his election, the Hungarian prime minister was among the first foreign leaders Trump contacted. While details of their discussions have not been leaked, it is hard to believe that Ukraine was not a topic. Following this, Viktor Orbán called Vladimir Putin in mid-December for a one-hour conversation. According to the Kremlin’s statement, there was a “thorough exchange of views on the Ukrainian issue” and Orbán expressed interest in jointly seeking a political and diplomatic resolution to the crisis.
It is also significant that Viktor Orbán was the last foreign leader to meet with Vladimir Putin in Moscow in early February 2022, three weeks before Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
All these factors, and many others, have strengthened Hungary’s position to host the summit. The well-known good relationship between the elected American president and the Hungarian prime minister, along with Orbán’s correct relations with Vladimir Putin, could indeed make Budapest a favorable venue for an American-Russian presidential meeting.
*Peter G. Feher writes for Magyar Hírlap (Hungarian Gazette). His current assignment is Central Europe, the V4 group, the Balkans, Ukraine, and Turkey. [IDN-InDepthNews]
Photo: View of Hungarian Parliament Building from Fisherman’s Bastion.Source: Wikimedia Commons.
