European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on July 18 savaged a rogue diplomatic trip made by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to Moscow to discuss ways for ending the war in Ukraine, calling it an "appeasement mission." "This so-called peace mission was nothing but an appeasement mission -- this was a plain appeasement mission," she told the European Parliament in a sharp rebuke for Orban, whose country currently holds the rotating EU Presidency. "Russia is banking on Europe and the West going soft, and some in Europe are playing along," said von der Leyen.
