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Viktor Orbán Meets Volodymyr Zelensky in Argentina

Hungary Today 2023.12.11.

Viktor Orbán visited Argentina at the weekend, where he attended the inauguration of President Javier Milei on Sunday. The Prime Minister also met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky before the ceremony, reports Magyar Nemzet.

“During his two-day program, the Hungarian Prime Minister held a number of bilateral talks in Argentina,” Bertalan Havasi, the Prime Minister’s Press Chief noted.

Viktor Orbán met former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and the president of the Spanish VOX party, Santiago Abascal, in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

At his meeting with Santiago Abascal, the two leaders discussed the common tasks of the campaign period leading up to the forthcoming European Parliament elections and the stakes of the elections – the defense of national sovereignty.

The President of Argentina campaigned on radical measures, including the abolition of the central bank, dollarization of the economy, drastic cuts in government spending, abolition of ministries and privatization of state-owned enterprises.

Moreover, President Milei has taken a similar position to the Hungarian government on the war in Ukraine, recently offering Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the opportunity to hold a peace conference in Buenos Aires.

“Javier Milei’s victory reflects Hungary’s awareness of global political changes, especially in Latin America. (…) Milei’s victory offers an opportunity to build common values and potential alliances,” Jorge González-Gallarza stressed earlier about the politician’s victory.

Photo via MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán

Furthermore, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Viktor Orbán before of the inauguration ceremony. The tense conversation between the Ukrainian head of state and the Hungarian Prime Minister was caught on camera, with Orbán apparently firmly reiterating his position to President Zelensky a few days before the EU summit, where Ukraine’s EU accession talks could be on the agenda.

“I spoke to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and it was a rather direct and to the point conversation,” Zelensky said in a video message. Bertalan Havasi, the Prime Minister’s press chief, added that the

Hungarian Prime Minister had indicated to the Ukrainian President that the EU Member States were in continuous discussion on the issue of Ukraine’s accession to the EU.

Besides the political significance of Argentina, it is also an important partner from a trade and energy perspective.

“Argentina is the largest hydrocarbon producer in Latin America after Venezuela and Mexico, with reserves that are just below those of Qatar and about twice those of Saudi Arabia,” the Oeconomus Economic Research Foundation emphasized in its analysis. The Latin American country is also a good exporter of agricultural products.

As reported by Oeconomus, Hungary and Argentina signed a bilateral economic cooperation agreement in 2013, that entered into force on September 13 2015.

In 2021, bilateral trade turnover broke the record of more than USD 200 million, following an increase of around 80 percent.

“Hungarian-Argentinean trade relations have great potential,” the analysis concluded.

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Via Magyar Nemzet, Featured image via Photo via MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán

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