EC boycotts Viktor Orban's Hungarian presidency meetings
The European Commission clearly shows its disagreement with Viktor Orban's policies. The EC's traditional visit to the country holding the EU presidency will not take place, and the informal meeting of foreign ministers in Budapest is also at risk of being boycotted.
8:12 PM EDT, July 15, 2024
"Another unprecedented decision by the EC regarding the Hungarian presidency: the traditional visit of the EC President and commissioners to Budapest has been canceled. No commissioner will participate in the informal ministerial meetings organized in Hungary either," reported Beata Płomecka, Polish Radio correspondent in Brussels, on the X service.
Politico writes that the European Commission has asked its commissioners not to attend informal ministerial meetings during Hungary's EU Council presidency.
The portal cites "three EU officials" who are familiar with the matter. One of them mentioned that the EC hopes that sending only officials to the meetings will signal to Budapest that "disrespecting the EU presidency is unacceptable."
Controversies surrounding Hungary's presidency
After Hungary took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union on July 1, Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Kyiv, Moscow, and Beijing, which sparked significant controversy. He did not inform other capitals of his plans in advance. In press releases, Hungary presented its presidency logo in a way that could imply Orban was representing the Union in the talks.
Ambassadors from 25 member countries criticized the Hungarian presidency (only Slovakia abstained). There is also talk of boycotting the informal meeting of foreign ministers scheduled for the end of August in Budapest. It is possible that a formal meeting will be held in Brussels instead. A decision on this matter may be made next week.
