Johann Wadephul

For the first time in seven years, a German foreign minister has sat down with their Hungarian counterpart in Budapest.

Ahead of his visit this week, Johann Wadephul said there was much ground to make up and that the swiftly evolving political landscape in Hungary following the ouster of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán provides a, quote, "opportunity to rapidly restore relations to a foundation of mutual trust and reliability." It appears that things were indeed cordial this week because Hungary's foreign minister has said that preparations are already underway for her prime minister to visit Berlin in November.

Uh, Alexander, let's start with you on this one.

We're now several months on from, um, the landslide win of, uh, Peter Magyar's, uh, government.

Moving east to Hungary, the political tectonic plates have shifted.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul just visited Budapest.

According to ZDF, it is the first diplomatic visit of its kind in seven years.

That is because the power dynamic changed in May.

And last one for me before we go on to the post bag, Berlin could be aiming to share information about draft-age Ukrainian men in Germany with Kyiv so that Ukraine can contact them about potential military conscription.

And that was in an interview with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul.

Now, he said that it was important to note that this was just so that the Ukrainian government could contact them, update their sort of data.

There's no current speculation that Ukraine's about to call a mobilization, as we were discussing about Russia, as it were, you were talking with James yesterday.

But this has been the move that, that's pushed him to move in lockstep with the UK and, uh, ditto, uh, President Macron in France.

I'm told Germany was also consulted in a long meeting, uh, probably more than one between, uh, Ed Miliband and Johann Wadephul, his, uh, opposite number in Berlin.

Uh, the German position is other measures are not warranted at this time.

That remains their line.

Yes, there is a significant gap there.

If we look at leaders like German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, they are maintaining a highly measured, calm posture.

Very deliberate.

They are projecting stability, focusing heavily on coordinated NATO responses, diplomatic resilience and energy diversification, specifically securing energy deals with nations like Algeria to reduce vulnerability.

Of course, we would need, I mean, to handle that situation, you would need a highly skilled and experienced diplomatic corps.

And let's say it hasn't gotten better, Ms. Wadephul and Annalena Baerbock.

So, I mean, I'm terribly sorry for the few remaining upfront and straightforward officials that are there and that have to suffer from those terrible ministers.

But we would need, I mean...

It was founded with the hope of overcoming historical divisions and providing impetus for European integration.

On Wednesday and Thursday, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Bachot and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski met in the eastern German town of Weimar to mark the 35th anniversary of the format and signed the Golden Book of the City.

On the occasion, the three top diplomats had also discussed the ongoing security concerns, with a special focus on the rapidly growing wave of hybrid warfare attacks on European soil attributed to Russia.

The Leipzig-Halle airport incident has once again shown us how little Russia's aggression respects borders, the one on the Bug River as well as the ones on the Oder and the Rhine.

The

The German Foreign Minister Johann, uh, Wadephul said he would order the closure of the Russian Consulate in Bonn, uh, so that, uh, we've got very real-world consequences here.

And the contract for the Russian house in Berlin will also be terminated.

Many observers have said that this has been used for espionage and to spread Russian propaganda over the years.

Its investigation found the makeup of the drone and the planning behind the incident point towards Russian involvement.

Here is Germany's foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, speaking via translator

We must state that Russia shows no willingness to compromise.

On the contrary, with the attempted attack on Leipzig, the Russian leadership has consciously decided to significantly damage our already heavily strained bilateral relationship even further

Germany's foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, there, who announced the closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn at that press conference.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte expressed solidarity, saying the evidence that Germany presented was clear.

Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman told the state-run TASS news agency that Germany will get, quote, "A fitting response for its decisions to close Russian facilities"