Irritations - After Orban's visit to Moscow, the EU responds diplomatically
The EU Commission has announced a boycott of informal meetings scheduled under Hungary's presidency in response to the controversial Moscow trip of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has decided that Commissioners and Commissioners will only attend these meetings at a high-level, according to her spokesperson Eric Mamer on Monday. Hungarian politicians criticized the decision.
The EU Commission will only be represented at the planned informal meetings in Hungary by the end of the year on a high-level, Mamer declared. The already postponed and now scheduled for September Commissioners' meeting in Hungary will not take place, he added.
Delay of a Peace Mission by Viktor Orbán
A planned EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Budapest for August could also potentially be boycotted. EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell could prevent the ministers from traveling to Hungary by holding another meeting in Brussels instead, several diplomats in Brussels revealed.
Orbán had angered EU partners at the beginning of the Hungarian presidency from July 1st with his self-appointed "Peace Mission" in the Ukraine conflict. Orbán visited not only Russian President Vladimir Putin and former US President Donald Trump but also Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Hungary's Minister for European Affairs, Janos Boka, criticized the boycott. The Commission cannot choose which EU member states it wants to work with, he stated in the X online service. "Will all of the Commission's decisions from now on be politically motivated?", he asked.
European MP Kinga Gal from Orbán's ruling Fidesz party criticized von der Leyen for using the issue to secure votes for a second term. "This is unacceptable and contradicts the nature of European cooperation", she criticized.
German Ministers also consider boycott
German ministers had previously considered boycotting trips to Hungary. Bundesminister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir (Greens) stated in Brussels on Monday that he was "carefully considering" whether he would attend an EU Agriculture Ministers meeting from 8th to 10th September in Hungary, and made his participation dependent on "how the future Hungarian Council Presidency runs". According to his words, the "strange travel destinations" of Orbán had raised doubts among partners.
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) also considered an absence. Lindner stated on the sidelines of an EU Finance Ministers meeting in Brussels that he might not go to Hungary for the informal Finance Ministers' meeting scheduled for 13th and 14th September, as it falls "exactly during the budget week" in Berlin, where he would speak in the Bundestag.
- Following the EU Commission's decision, Commissioner X will only participate in the informal meetings during Hungary's presidency at a high level, as announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's spokesperson Eric Mamer in Brussels.
- Hungarian Minister for European Affairs Janos Boka strongly criticized the European Commission's boycott, stating that the Commission cannot pick and choose which EU member states it collaborates with, and questioning if all future decisions would be politically motivated.
- German Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir is considering boycotting an EU Agriculture Ministers meeting in Hungary due to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's controversial trips and the uncertain future of Hungary's Council Presidency.
