WARSAW — When Vladimir V. Putin played host at the Kremlin early last year to Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, the notion of a reciprocal visit that would bring the Russian president onto European Union soil seemed perfectly in keeping with a whole series of stick-in-the-eye moves toward Europe by the two leaders in recent years.
But by Tuesday, when Mr. Putin and his entourage finally touched down in Budapest, the meeting seemed to demonstrate less a fresh diplomatic conquest than a demonstration of the Russian leader’s shrunken diplomatic reach.
The combination of a festering Ukraine crisis, Russia’s growing economic woes and Mr. Orban’s desire to repair relations with the West made this latest stop in Mr. Putin’s increasingly active itinerary — he traveled to Egypt earlier this month, and stopped in India, Turkey and Uzbekistan in December — into a low-key, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it event.
“I think it is not accidental that the Hungarian government did not want to over-promote this meeting right now,” said Peter Kreko, director of the Political Capital Institute, a Budapest research group. “Orban realized quite late that while it was completely O.K. to do business with Russia before the Ukraine crisis, it is not the same since.”
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Andras Nemeth, 31, an economist who joined the line of protesters, said he saw some disturbing similarities between Mr. Putin and Mr. Orban.
“They like to be at the center of power,” he said, “and use their charisma to keep control of their population and convey easy, populist messages.”
Rick Lyman reported from Warsaw, and Helene Bienvenu from Budapest.
Rick Lyman reported from Warsaw; Helene Bienvenu reported from Budapest.
