Viktor Orban goes to Washington again. The announcement made by the Prime Minister of Hungary
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban shakes hands with US President Donald Trump at the “Board of Peace” meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on January 22, 2026. PHOTO: Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP / Profimedia
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Saturday he would travel to Washington “within two weeks” to attend the first meeting of the “Peace Council”, the body initiated by US President Donald Trump as part of the peace plan for the Gaza Strip.
First mentioned in a 20-point plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas, the Peace Council received a mandate from the UN Security Council and was initially thought to focus only on the Gaza Strip, but members of the Trump administration later said it would also turn its attention to conflicts in other areas of the world, although the body's purpose remains unclear for now, according to The New York Times.
Viktor Orban, one of the US leader's closest allies in the EU, attended the launch of the initiative last month in Davos.
“Two weeks from now we will meet again in Washington as the Peace Council, the peace body, will have its inaugural meeting,” the Hungarian prime minister said at a campaign event in the western Hungarian city of Szombathely.
Romania was also invited to the Peace Council, according to the announcement made by the Presidential Administration, and President Nicușor Dan declared on January 20 that he was starting “an in-depth analysis process of the content and implications of the Board of Peace Charter, in relation to the international commitments previously assumed by Romania, especially those within the United Nations Organization, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, as well as the European Union”.
Nicușor Dan invokes “weeks, even months” until the Peace Council makes a decision. Other European states have already given the answer to Trump / Who accepted and who firmly refused
Bloomberg, which has consulted on a draft status, reported last month that the Trump administration is asking for $1 billion from countries seeking permanent membership in the Peace Council.
Viktor Orban, the EU's current longest-serving national leader, faces an unprecedented challenge in the April 12 general election. Independent polls put the opposition led by Peter Magyar, a former government close-turned-adversary, in first place. Hungary's economy is stagnating, and there is growing dissatisfaction with public services in the country, among other key issues, according to AFP.
