EU leaders discuss cutting Hungary's EU council presidency short

Due to the recent activities of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, EU countries may consider an unprecedented step of shortening Hungary's presidency of the EU Council and transferring the leadership to Poland as early as fall 2024, revealed the Politico portal on Tuesday.

As emphasized, EU countries are increasingly irritated with Orban's behavior. The Hungarian Prime Minister conducted several unannounced visits last week as part of what he called a "peace mission."

The day after taking over the six-month presidency of the EU Council on July 1, Orban visited Kyiv. This was his first trip to Ukraine since the Russian invasion of that country in February 2022. The meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky was well received in the West. Still, three days later, the Hungarian prime minister went to Moscow to talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Orbane drew sharp criticism from allies.

On Monday, the head of the Hungarian government made another unannounced visit, this time to Beijing, from where he flew to the US for a NATO summit in Washington. Although representatives of EU institutions emphasized that Orban does not have a mandate to represent the EU's position, experts interviewed by PAP noted that during meetings in Moscow and Beijing, the Hungarian Prime Minister was treated as an envoy of the entire Community.

There is growing annoyance over what they see as Orbán using his turn in the rotating Council chair to promote Hungary’s worldview. It’s one that’s been so often at odds with the EU majority, especially on aid to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, Politico noted.

"Orbán is acting as a ‘useful idiot’ for attempts to undermine the unity of the EU," assessed one of the EU diplomats, quoted by the portal.

On Wednesday, the ambassadors of the member countries will address the Hungarian Prime Minister's visits to Kyiv, Moscow, and Beijing in the context of the Hungarian presidency. The tour, called a "peace mission" by Orban, is causing increasing concern in capitals that "something is happening behind their backs and against their will," said an anonymous EU diplomat in an interview with PAP on Monday.

As assessed on the X portal by Daniel Hegedus, a Hungarian analyst at the German Marshall Fund (GMF) think tank, member countries can shorten Hungary's presidency of the EU Council and transfer it to Poland starting September 1, which would typically assume the leadership of the EU at the beginning of the following year.

According to Hegedus, the initiators of such a step should be France, Germany, and Poland, with the support of a large group of member countries. As the GMF analyst added, this could also be facilitated by the tension between Orban and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after the new alliance in the EP Patriots for Europe took over MEPs from the European Conservatives and Reformists, to which Meloni's Brothers of Italy party belongs.

At the beginning of the week, at an informal meeting of EU ministers responsible for competition in Budapest, only five out of 27 economy ministers appeared. The remaining countries were represented at a lower level, reported Radio Free Europe journalist Rikard Jozwiak on the X portal.

At the end of June, a few days before Hungary took over the presidency of the EU Council, the British daily Financial Times wrote about the possibility of member countries boycotting ministerial meetings in Hungary.