Next scandal in EU-Hungary dispute
The alleged "peace mission" of Viktor Orbans in Russia without EU approval continues to cause tension. EU High Representative Josep Borrell intends to boycott an upcoming foreign minister meeting in Budapest. Not all countries support the Spanish move.
EU High Representative Josep Borrell announced the boycott of a foreign minister meeting planned by Hungary in Budapest in response to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's trips to Moscow and Beijing. Instead, Borrell will invite participants to a meeting in Brussels after the summer break, he announced in Brussels.
Borrell made this decision after an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels and against the declared will of countries like Germany, Spain, and Luxembourg. It was initially unclear what specific consequences this would have. Borrell said he had tried to establish unity among EU states on the matter but unfortunately, this was not possible.
At the foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, a number of participants spoke out against Borrell's proposal for a boycott of the current Hungarian EU presidency's planned meeting in Budapest. For example, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel called it foolish and advocated for traveling to Budapest to clearly and openly express his opinion to the Hungarian government. Countries like Spain and Slovenia also expressed their opposition to Borrell's proposal.
Behind the scenes, according to diplomatic sources, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and representatives from countries like France and Italy expressed similar views. On the other hand, countries from Northeastern Europe such as Poland, Lithuania, and Sweden had already announced earlier that they would not send ministers or ministers to meetings in Hungary as a reaction to Orban's solo actions.
A compromise proposal, according to Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, was briefly considered, organizing the foreign minister meeting in the Russia-attacked Ukraine instead of Hungary. However, this failed because Hungary would have had to agree.
Further aggravation over Hungary's foreign minister
Discussions about possible EU reactions to Orban's meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese State and Party Chief Xi Jinping, and former US President Donald Trump have been ongoing for days. Orban's meetings are particularly aggravating because Hungary currently holds the rotating EU presidency. It is feared that abroad, the impression will be created that Orban speaks on behalf of the European Union during these meetings. Criticism focuses mainly on the trip to Putin, which is seen as an act of appeasement.
Borrell called Orban's actions at the foreign ministers meeting "completely unacceptable" and reminded of the principle of loyal cooperation enshrined in EU treaties, whereby the Union and its members support each other. Borrell also referred to statements by Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. Szijjarto recently gave the impression in a UN Security Council speech that the EU was fueling the war in Ukraine through its politics and arms deliveries.
Orban speaks of a "peace mission." The Hungarian has long held the view that the political course of the EU and NATO could lead to an expansion of the war beyond Ukraine. However, from the Ukrainian perspective, negotiations are meaningless as long as Russia shows no willingness to withdraw from the occupied territories.
In a letter to EU Council President Charles Michel, Orban wrote after his trips that the EU should now take the initiative and hold talks with China about a possible large peace conference. Simultaneously, diplomatic communication with Russia, which was suspended due to the Ukraine war, should be resumed. German Foreign Minister Baerbock did not go along with these demands at the Foreign Ministers meeting. She criticized the trips as "Ego-Trips" that had caused irritations among many actors on the world stage.
Szijjarto published a photo of himself at the Foreign Ministers meeting, showing him in a tight T-shirt and with a toned upper body. He wrote, he was traveling to Brussels with a politically bulletproof vest and was prepared for a political "firefight." He accused his colleagues of being frustrated over their own Ukraine policy. Moreover, he pointed out that there had been numerous other talks since Orban's "peace mission" - for example, between the US Defense Ministers and those of Russia, as well as between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump.
- Despite the EU High Representative Josep Borrell's intent to boycott a foreign minister meeting in Budapest due to Viktor Orban's trips to Moscow and Beijing, some European Union member states, such as Germany and Luxembourg, expressed their opposition to the boycott proposal.
- During the EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto gave a speech at the UN Security Council, implying that the EU was fueling the war in Ukraine through its politics and arms deliveries, which further aggravated the tensions between Hungary and the European Union.
- In response to the criticism, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban proposed that the EU should take the initiative and hold peace talks with China, as well as resume diplomatic communication with Russia, but these proposals were not met with agreement from other EU members, particularly German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
