EU plans to boycott Hungary's foreign affairs summit

Politico reported the information.

Hungary, which currently holds the EU Council presidency, is set to host a foreign ministers summit in Budapest on August 28-29. In response, EU foreign ministers want to snub Orbán for blocking aid to Ukraine and making unauthorized visits to Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.

They believe this summit could turn into another propaganda event for Orbán, so they plan to organize their own meeting, ignoring the Budapest summit.

Three EU diplomats, speaking anonymously, revealed that EU foreign policy chief Borrell plans to convene an "official" foreign ministers council at the same time as Orbán's summit.

"If there’s a formal foreign affairs council, organized by the high representative [Borrell] the same day, the ministers won’t be able to go to Budapest," one diplomat said.

Another diplomat stated that boycotting the Budapest meeting would "send a clear signal that Hungary does not speak for the EU."

This plan has been informally discussed with several EU countries, including France and Germany. On Wednesday, July 17, Borrell's team will present the plan to the EU's 27 permanent representatives.

Background

On July 1, Hungary took over the EU Council presidency for six months, adopting the slogan "Make Europe Great Again."
On July 4, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited Kyiv and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
On July 5, Orbán visited Moscow and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling for a ceasefire.
On July 8, Orbán traveled to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, discussing "steps to achieve peace in Ukraine." His next stop is Washington.
On July 11, Valerie Hayer, head of the liberal Renew Europe group, urged the European Council to explore ways to strip Hungary of its EU Council presidency, accusing Orbán of acting against the bloc's interests.