Budapest, Hungary — Senior EU officials will boycott informal meetings hosted by Hungary while the country holds the rotating EU presidency, after Hungary’s pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Orban held a series of dishonest meetings with foreign leaders over Ukraine that angered European partners.
The unusual decision for the president of the European Commission and other senior officials of the body to boycott the meetings was taken “in light of the recent events marking the beginning of the Hungarian (EU) presidency,” the spokesman for the European Commission published on Monday. Commission, Eric Mamer, in X.
Hungary took over the rotating role on July 1, and Orban has since visited Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan, China and the United States on a world tour he has promoted as a “peace mission” aimed at negotiating an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. That angry Many EU leaders, who said they had not been informed in advance of Orbán’s plans. Orban’s government is friendly to Russia and has gone against the policy of most EU countries on supporting Ukraine.
Hungarian Europe Minister Janos Boka criticized the commission’s decision, saying the body “cannot carefully select the institutions and member states with which it wants to cooperate.” ”
The European Commission’s decision applies to informal meetings organized by Hungary. Senior officials will attend instead of senior officials like the president of the European Commission, currently Ursula von der Leyen.
The Orbán government has gone against the policy of most EU countries by refuse to supply Kyiv with weapons to deter Russian invasion and threatening to block financial assistance to the war-torn country.
The visits of the veteran Prime Minister to Moscow and Beijing, where he held talks with leaders Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, angered his EU counterparts, who said they had not been informed in advance. They were quick to clarify that Orbán, whose country currently holds the bloc’s six-month rotating presidency, was not acting on behalf of the EU.
In an interview with Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet on Monday, Orbán’s political director said the prime minister had informed the leaders of other EU countries “in writing about the negotiations, the experiences of the first phase of the peace and the Hungarian proposals”.
“If Europe wants peace and wants to have a decisive voice in resolving the war and ending the bloodshed, it must now work and implement a change of direction,” said Balázs Orbán, who is not related to the prime minister. “A realistic assessment of the situation, realistic goals and the right timing – that’s our approach.”
Hungary’s government has long advocated for an immediate ceasefire and peace negotiations in the conflict in Ukraine, but has not outlined what such measures could mean for the country’s territorial integrity and future security. It has exhibited an adverse stance toward Ukraine while maintaining close ties with Moscow, even after its large-scale invasion in February 2022.
Orbán’s critics have accused him of acting against the unity and interests of the EU and NATO, of which Hungary is a member, and of pursuing a strategy of “appeasement” in the face of Russian aggression.
Following Orbán’s unannounced trip to Moscow for talks with Putin on July 5 – the first such visit by an EU head of state or government in more than two years – von der Leyen accused him of trying to appease to the Russian leader and wrote in X: “Appeasement will not stop Putin. Only unity and determination will pave the way to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
