The European Union, enraged over Viktor Orbán’s diplomatic efforts for peace in Ukraine, has punished Hungary by cancelling a series of meetings in Budapest scheduled for next month.
Spanish socialist Josep Borrell, the outgoing top foreign affairs official in Brussels, said on Tuesday that Hungary will be blocked from hosting the next meeting of foreign and defence ministers over Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s stance on Ukraine and his recent meeting with Vladimir Putin to discuss a potential pathway to peace.
“I can say that all member states – with one single exception (Slovakia) – are very much critical about this behaviour,” Borrell said per the BBC. “I think it was… appropriate to show this feeling and to call for the next foreign and defence council meetings in Brussels.”
However, Borrell’s unilateral decision to move the August meetings from Budapest to Brussels drew criticism throughout the bloc.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said: “Spain does not support boycotts in the European Union.” Luxembourg Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel described the move as “nonsense.”
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said: “What a fantastic response they have come up with.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but it feels like being in kindergarten.”
According to the German paper of record Die Welt, representatives from France, Germany, and the Netherlands were also all critical of the largely symbolic punishment of Hungary.
The latest dispute between Brussels and Budapest comes after years of disagreement over the war in Ukraine, which borders Hungary and has many ethnic Hungarians living within its territory. Orbán has long argued against continued funding of Kyiv’s war efforts, favouring peace talks with Russia instead.
At the start of this month, Hungary took the mantle of the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union and Orbán took this occasion to make diplomatic trips to Moscow, Beijing, as well as meeting with former President Donald Trump in Florida on what he termed “peace missions”.
Following his meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Orbán criticised the EU for having a “pro-war policy” that threatens a broader European conflict and has sapped much needed resources from the citizens of Europe.
This caused outrage in Brussels, with globalists seeing it as an attempt to undermine their position, with EU Chief Ursula von der Leyen branding Orbán’s trip as “nothing but an appeasement mission.”
Releasing a public letter with recommendations crafted after his meetings with the major players in the conflict, the Hungarian PM warned that there is a sense that the “intensity of the military conflict will radically escalate in the near future.”
Arguing for the EU to begin peace negotiations, Orbán said: “I personally witnessed that the warring parties are determined to involve themselves deeper into the conflict, and neither of them would like to make initiatives for a ceasefire or peace negotiations. Therefore, we can assume that tensions will not decrease and the parties will not start searching for a way out of the conflict without significant external involvement.”
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