Just like last year, Viktor Orbán and Romanian PM Marcel Ciolacu met informally on Friday, a day before the Hungarian Prime Minister, who has become somewhat of a pariah in the EU, was set to participate and speak on Saturday at the Summer University in Băile Tușnad.
Moreover, Orbán arrived in Transylvania last night, dressed as a hussar.
In the morning, Ciolacu welcomed Orbán at Vila Lac, alongside Kelemen Hunor, the president of UDMR, at a round table with a white tablecloth, where some croissants, water, and juice can be seen (main photo of the article).
Ciolacu claims that he had a "pragmatic" discussion with Orbán and they planned a high-speed railway line between Budapest and Bucharest, a topic that the press had heard about from sources last year, at a meeting that seemed almost identical.
For a few days now, the topic of Schengen has been reignited in Bucharest once again, with the expectation that Hungary will put land border accession on the agenda in the JAI, but Ciolacu does not provide any concrete information about it.
"Today, I had a pragmatic discussion with the Prime Minister of Hungary, Mr. Viktor Orbán, on the common interests of our bilateral cooperation.
Our trade exchanges amount to approximately 13 billion euros, and together with the Hungarian counterpart, we agreed that there is still untapped potential."
I conveyed to Prime Minister Orbán that we want to work together to strengthen a positive bilateral agenda for the benefit of our citizens, regardless of ethnicity.
At the same time, we agreed to start feasibility studies for the implementation of a flagship project at the bilateral level - the high-speed railway connection #railway between Budapest and Bucharest, a strategic project of regional interest with an impact on the railway networks in Central Europe."
Hungary holds the Presidency of the EU Council this semester, and in this capacity, Romania relies on Hungary's honest action to strengthen the European strategic agenda. I also thanked Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for his unequivocal support for Romania's accession to the #Schengen area and its land borders," Marcel Ciolacu posted on Facebook.
Recent history shows that Viktor Orbán is more likely to exploit weaknesses and could use his visit to Romania and meeting with Prime Minister Ciolacu to show that he has allies, that his actions towards Russia are validated, and especially that he has recognized power.
No mention of Ukraine or war
As observed, Ciolacu does not address the hot topic of the war and Viktor Orbán's stance in his message, which has turned him into the EU's naughty boy.
The Hungarian Prime Minister has recently further upset EU leaders with his so-called "peace missions" at the beginning of July - meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, and more recently, former US President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
Orbán has tried to present himself as a peacemaker in the conflict in Ukraine, but his position is at odds with most EU leaders, who have committed to unequivocally support Ukraine in its efforts to repel Russia's military aggression.
In his letter to these leaders, Orbán stated that during the meetings, there was a "general observation" that the "intensity of the military conflict" in Ukraine "will escalate radically in the near future."
Subsequently, the EU decided how to boycott Viktor Orbán. The upcoming meetings of EU foreign and defense ministers scheduled for August will be moved from Budapest to Brussels. However, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has shown indifference to this decision. Instead, Hungary will block the next tranche of military aid offered to Ukraine through the "European Peace Facility" until Kiev unblocks the deliveries of oil from the Russian company Lukoil to Hungary and Slovakia.