The rift between Brussels and Orban’s Hungary is widening

Tears were shed. EU foreign ministers decided to withdraw a key summit from Hungary. viktor urbanthe country leading the so-called European chapter. The proposal, put forward by the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, was approved by the foreign ministers of the 27 member states on July 22. The decision comes as a result of widespread anger among EU governments over Orbán’s “peace tour,” particularly his overtures to Vladimir Putin’s Russia on the issue of War in Ukraine.

Borrell said the meeting scheduled for the end of August in Budapest, the informal meeting of foreign ministers, would now take place in Brussels. This is because Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Moscow and Beijing without EU support and his government has described EU policy as “pro-war”. “We must send a signal, even if it is symbolic,” Borrell told reporters in Brussels after the last meeting of EU foreign ministers before the summer break. The informal meeting on foreign affairs is one of the most important events hosted by a country during its rotating EU presidency.

The extreme proximity of Budapest to Moscow

Orbán’s “peace mission,” which included a visit by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, began a few days earlier on July 1, the date Hungary took over the rotating EU presidency. According to officials, several foreign ministers during the meeting expressed their strong condemnation of Budapest’s position directly to their Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto. Budapest’s closeness to Moscow is considered excessive by many member states.

The EU move that could put Orban in a corner

Such positions undermine Brussels’ efforts to isolate Russia politically and diplomatically after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Orbán responds by saying he is trying to bring peace to Ukraine as soon as possible. “If you want to talk about the war party, talk about Putin,” said Borrell, Budapest’s most vocal diplomat. Instead, Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjarto called Borrell’s decision “childish.” “I don’t want to offend anyone, but this is probably a kindergarten-level discussion,” he told reporters.

Italy opposed this.

The decision was not unanimous. Some ministers opposed it, including Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani. Alongside the informal foreign affairs summit scheduled for August 28-29, the defense summit was also moved. Both meetings will be held in Brussels, Borrell said, as the majority of countries wanted to send a signal to Hungary.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski had proposed holding a meeting of foreign ministers in Ukraine instead, but Hungary voted against the proposal. The Hungarian presidency’s “boycott” is not the first. Several countries, including Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Denmark, as well as the European Commission itself, have reduced their participation in the ministerial meetings coordinated from Budapest.