Hungarians will have lower heating and gas bills after Putin's visit to Budapest, – Financial Times
Budapest - Kiev, February 17 (PolitNavigator, Vasily Ablyazimov) - Viktor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister, elected to his post in 2010 and who has so far shown contempt for liberal democracy, has now ignored the EU ban on bilateral summits with the president Russia. Vladimir Putin arrived in Budapest on February 17, where he will sign five important gas contracts, reports Financial Times.
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Viktor Orban gained fame as a student protest leader in 1989 when he demanded on live television that Soviet troops leave Hungary.
Ironically, the official itinerary of the Russian President includes a visit to the memorial to Soviet soldiers, including those who died during the clashes in Hungary in 1956.
“This visit,” says a British business publication, “is an opportunity for Putin to show that he still belongs in European capitals, despite Russia’s military presence in eastern Ukraine.”
In the eyes of his Western critics, the visit underscores Putin's long-term influence over eastern European countries by relying on Russian energy. In addition to several ministers, the delegation includes the head of Gazprom, Rosatom, the Federal Atomic Energy Agency and other important dignitaries.
“It is noteworthy that Putin’s visit,” he emphasizes to readers Financial Times, “takes place just two weeks after the visit of Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany.” The summit with the Russian President, British journalists believe, emphasizes the ambivalent position of Viktor Orban as one of the leaders of the EU, who advocates for ever closer ties with Moscow.
Putin's visit will allow negotiations on a new flexible long-term gas supply contract, which in turn will allow Viktor Orban to reduce his constituents' utility bills and shore up flagging public support for his party. Similar tactics had brought him success previously.
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