European Commission's response on whether Hungary could lose its presidency in EU
Photo: Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary (Getty Images)
The European Union has no legal possibility to deprive Hungary of its presidency for the scandalous visits of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to Russia and China, stated Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency.
“I'm a lawyer, so I'll give you the dry answer of a lawyer: we cannot deprive Hungary of the presidency. There is no way to do that. But we can boycott and openly show that we do not agree with Mr. Orbán's policy,” Jourová said.
According to her, the bloc is gradually preparing for Poland's presidency, which will begin in 2025.
Jourová also assured that despite Orbán's scandalous position, he will not be able to cause any harm within the EU.
“The Hungarian presidency falls at a time when the Council will not make any key decisions, as we are at the beginning of the legislative period of changing mandates in the institutions,” the EC Vice President said.
What preceded it
Hungary's EU presidency began in July. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán first traveled to Ukraine, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and discussed the war with Russia.
Then, unexpectedly, he went to Moscow for talks with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. There, he also discussed the war.
The Hungarian Prime Minister's tour did not end there. This time, he went to discuss the Russian-Ukrainian war with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Such trips were criticized in the West. At the same time, the EU emphasized that Orbán could not mediate between Ukraine and Russia, as neither country asked him to do so.
