EU to not hold high-level meetings in Budapest due to Orbán’s stance on Ukraine
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (getty images)
The next meetings of the EU foreign ministers and defense ministers scheduled for August will be moved from Budapest to Brussels, according to EU Chief Diplomat Josep Borrell.
"I understood that we have to send a signal, even if it is a symbolic signal, that being against the foreign policy of the European Union and disqualifying the policy of the European Union as the ‘party of war’ has to have some consequences," Borrell said at a press conference in Brussels.
According to him, the statements and actions of Orbán and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto have been analyzed. "I can say that all member states, with one single exception, were very much critical about this behavior," Borrell said.
Informal meetings of the EU Council's foreign and defense ministers were to take place in Budapest on August 28-30.
Orbán's outrageous contacts
On July 2, Orbán visited Kyiv and suggested that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stop resisting the Russian invasion, lay down his arms, and agree to "peace talks."
On July 5, Orbán traveled to Moscow, where he held talks with Putin.
After that, the Hungarian prime minister went on his "peace mission" to China.
The EU criticized these trips because they were not coordinated, and no one authorized Orbán to speak on behalf of the entire bloc.
Hungary canceled a visit to Budapest by German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock because her Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjarto, unexpectedly went with Orbán to see Putin.
Orbán accused the EU of allegedly implementing a "pro-war policy."
