For a "small incident" during the meeting of the European Political Community yesterday in Budapest, the media in Romania said. They report that Romanian President Klaus Iohannis turned his back on the host of the meeting, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and ignored him upon his arrival at the event in the Hungarian capital.
"Klaus Iohannis got out of the car as if Viktor Orbán did not exist at all,", writes the Hungarian portal Szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu, quoted by the Romanian publication News.ro. Instead of a glance or a handshake, he immediately turned his back on him and started talking to one of his presidential advisers, the media noted.
Viktor Orbán, the host of the summit of the European Political Community, welcomed more than 50 delegations yesterday morning in the "Puskas Arena". The protocol was the usual: the guests arrived by car, the security guards looked around, opened the door, and then the heads of state or government - with real or fake smiles - got out of the car, reports Digi 24 TV. Orbán greeted each of them, shook hands, followed a polite exchange of lines and a formal photo together, then the next guest would arrive.
However, when Romanian President Klaus Iohannis arrived after Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelensky, a rather unpleasant scene took place, Hungarian media noted, and the unexpected gesture seemed to surprise Orbán and even the photographers.
Although the Hungarian prime minister was next to the car a few meters away when he got out, the Romanian president appeared not to notice him. He got off, turned his back on him and talked to the protocol manager for about 20 seconds, straightened his jacket and put the phone in his pocket. During this time, Orban hinted at a smile with the corner of his mouth, Diji 24 also tells.
After that, Iohannis still turns around, the two of them shake hands with Orbán with a smile and apparently exchange a few cordial words, after which the usual photo is taken, adds the media.
What is the reason for this behavior of the Romanian president, the media are asking.
The edition "Stir pe surse" (News Sources) claims that the reason Iohannis "got mad at Orbán and turned his back on him" was because his car was driven around Budapest for a quarter of an hour because the Hungarian police messed up the access road to the place of the event.
According to the sources cited by the publication, Iohannis was not the only one who faced this situation. And other presidents who participated in the meeting also had similar problems, although there were specially organized areas to take the official columns to the "Puskas Arena".
According to the Hungarian police, however, there was no problem with the movement of the columns and the protocol was strictly followed, according to Digi 24 TV.
Hungarian police said they "didn't drive the Romanian president around Budapest for nothing," as claims appeared in Hungarian and Romanian media yesterday after Iohannis appeared to ignore Orbán for several seconds upon his arrival. Officials stated that there was a clear protocol and the official columns passed in a certain order.
The press in Hungary reminds of another similar moment in which Iohannis is the main character, the TV noted. In 2015 the president of Romania nervously threw his coat over the car after waiting a few seconds for it to be picked up by one of the staff. The incident happened during the head of state's visit to Paris.