Hungary says it cannot host EU meeting over Ukraine stance

“We have to send a signal, even if it is a symbolic one, that opposing EU foreign policy… must have some consequences.” Borrell told reporters in Brussels on Monday:

Borrell said he took the decision to hold the next meeting in Brussels after almost every EU foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday criticised Hungary’s stated position on Kyiv, Russia and the war in Ukraine.

Tensions between the EU and Budapest have escalated after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban embarked on a “peace mission” to Ukraine, Russia and China earlier in July without EU support. Orban, seen as an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has since sparked outrage in Brussels when he described the EU’s policy toward Ukraine as “pro-war.”

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday that a number of EU foreign ministers had expressed their unwillingness to go to Budapest for their next meeting of foreign and defence ministers, which is scheduled for late August.

“All member states – with one exception – strongly criticize this behavior” by Hungary, Borrell said, adding that he believed it was “appropriate to show this feeling and call for the next Foreign and Defense Council meetings in Brussels.”

However, Borrell told reporters that the move was not a “boycott” of Hungary and that the country would be present at the upcoming meeting. He insisted that “the meeting will operate with the full participation of all member states.”

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto described the decision to strip Hungary of hosting duties as “childish”, telling reporters: “I really don’t want to offend anyone, but it’s probably a kindergarten-level discussion,” according to Reuters.

There have been repeated confrontations between the European Union and member state Hungary over Ukraine and the continuation of diplomatic and energy relations between Budapest and Russia.

The decision to deny Hungary the right to host the next informal meeting of EU foreign ministers is the latest step in a deterioration in relations between the bloc and Hungary. The European Commission has already banned EU commissioners from attending meetings held in Hungary during its EU presidency, which began in early July.

Hungary, which sits on the EU’s eastern flank, favours a ceasefire and negotiations to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, rather than what it sees as continued EU aid that enables Kiev to continue fighting a war of attrition.T He says Russia’s superiority in manpower and resources makes the war unwinnable.

Kiev strongly rejects this position, and its allies, including the European Union and NATO, say they are helping Ukraine defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty after Russia’s unprovoked invasion. The EU criticized Orban’s recent meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, saying “appeasement” would not stop the Russian leader.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told CNBC last week that “there is no solution to this conflict on the battlefield” and that he sees his mission as changing the EU’s policy on Ukraine.

“My mission is to convince them to move from a pro-war policy to a pro-peace policy,” Orban said.

“They think they can destroy the army.” [of the] “The Russians… but I don’t believe it at all, because I know the Russians, I know the Soviet Union, I know the Ukrainians. I come from a neighboring country. I know the whole context. It’s impossible to find a solution on the battlefield, we will lose thousands of innocent people every day,” Orban told CNBC while attending a meeting of the European Political Community at Blenheim Palace in England on Thursday.

“Human life is the most precious thing we can lose, and we do it every day, thousands and thousands of lives. We have to stop it. This is as a neighboring country. This is my opinion… [The] He added, “The solution is on the negotiating table, the ceasefire negotiating table. This is what I am trying to convince them of, but it takes time.”