The European Union’s Foreign Affairs chief last Monday stripped Hungary of its role as host of the upcoming August meeting of EU foreign ministers after several ministers objected to Budapest’s recent overtures to Russia.
Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the European Union on July 1. As part of that role, it was expected to host the August meeting of the member states’ foreign ministers.
However, just days after his country assumed the EU presidency, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban set out on a “peace mission” to urge Moscow to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
Orban’s mission also included a stop in Florida to meet with Republican nominee Donald Trump while he was in the United States for NATO’s 75th Anniversary Summit in Washington.
Following the final meeting of foreign ministers before the summer break, EU Minister of Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell told reporters that he had decided to move August’s meeting from Budapest to Brussels to send a signal to Prime Minister Orban that the EU disapproved of his decision to visit Beijing and Moscow without the backing of the European Union.
Borrell conceded that the signal was only a symbolic one but said that he chose to relocate the meeting after most of the foreign ministers demanded that the EU send a message to Hungary.
During last Monday’s meeting, several foreign ministers voiced their condemnations directly to Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.
Szijjarto in turn criticized Minister Borrell’s decision to move the meeting, calling it “childish.” He also called the debate over Hungary’s position “kindergarten-level.”
In his press briefing, Borrell also criticized Prime Minister Orban for describing the EU as “pro-war” for its support of Ukraine. He told reporters that if Orban wanted to label anyone “pro-war,” it should be Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Since the war in Ukraine began, EU member countries have criticized Prime Minister Orban’s government for continuing its close relations with the Kremlin, which they say has undermined the bloc’s efforts to isolate Russia politically and diplomatically.
