Denmark joins boycott of EU Council meetings during Hungary's presidency
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen (Photo: Getty Images)
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen stated that Denmark would not send ministers to Informal Government Meetings related to Hungary's EU presidency in July as a protest against Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's "peace initiatives."
"The government wants to clearly distance itself from the Hungarian presidency's handling of Ukraine in the first weeks of the Presidency," he said.
According to the minister, Denmark will only send civil servants to cover informal ministerial meetings in Hungary for now.
Orbán's tour
In early July, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited Kyiv and proposed that Ukraine cease fire before peace talks with Russia.
Later, Orbán went to negotiations with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and then went to China to meet with Xi Jinping.
In response, EU ambassadors criticized Orbán for his "peace mission." Meanwhile, Members of the European Parliament called for Hungary to be stripped of its veto rights.
Boycott of Hungary
After Orbán's trips to China and Russia, six countries announced that they would not send their ministers to meetings organized by Hungary as part of its EU Council presidency. Specifically, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Finland announced the boycott.
At the same time, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning Orbán's visit to Russia, stating that the EU assembly "considers this violation should have consequences for Hungary."
