EU may boycott foreign ministers' summit in Hungary − Politico

EU foreign ministers may penalise Hungary for its uncoordinated foreign policy activities by ignoring a foreign ministers summit in Hungary and instead organising their own meeting on the same dates.

Politico reported that Hungary, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council, plans to host a summit of foreign ministers in Budapest on 28-29 August. This is seen as a prime opportunity for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to attempt to shape the bloc's foreign policy agenda and for his Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó to be in the spotlight.

However, after Orbán blocked assistance to Ukraine and made so-called "peace visits" to Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping without coordinating with the other 26 EU leaders, many foreign ministers have sought a way to avoid being props in what they believe could become another "Orbán propaganda show".

According to three EU diplomats, Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, will convene an "official" meeting of foreign ministers at the same time as Orbán's summit.

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

Another source added that other foreign ministers want to "send a clear signal that Hungary does not speak for the EU" by boycotting the Budapest meeting.

A diplomat joked that, "very unfortunately", their country would not be able to attend Orbán's event if Borrell organised a meeting.

Politico noted that such a plan has been informally discussed with several EU countries, including France and Germany. Borrell's team is expected to present it to the 27 permanent representatives of the EU on Wednesday, 17 July.

On 2 July, Viktor Orbán made his first visit to Kyiv since Hungary's presidency in the EU Council began, and after that he travelled to Moscow, where he met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Orbán called his trip to Russia "peacemaking". On social media, he posted a photo from the Vnukovo airport government terminal with a large inscription "Moscow" in the background, to which Orbán's press service added the logo of the Hungarian Presidency of the EU, despite Brussels noting that Orbán was only representing his own country during his trip.

Later, Orbán visited Azerbaijan, where he spoke at an informal summit of the Organisation of Turkic States and to China, where he met with Xi Jinping and announced other visits. 

On 8 July, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy explained why Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán cannot be an intermediary between Ukraine and Russia.

After the trip to Moscow, Viktor Orbán explained how he had hidden these plans from Western allies until the last moment and promised more "surprise meetings" soon.

The EU started discussing punishing Hungary and Viktor Orbán's government for their international activity and fake "mediation" to end the war in Ukraine. In particular, they are discussing the possibility of an early end to Hungary's presidency of the Council of the European Union.