The announcement by the European Commission that it will partially boycott the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union is mostly a symbolic move, demonstrating that the actions taken by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán are not approved by Brussels, our interlocutors state. However, they argue that the unprecedented move by the Commission will not greatly affect the pace of the EU decision-making process by the end of this year, including in the area of EU enlargement.
The decision was officially announced by European Commission Spokesman Eric Mamer. He explained that in the future informal ministerial meetings organised by Hungary in the framework of its EU Presidency (until 1 January 2025), the Commission will not be represented by the Commissioners but by the senior civil servants. In addition, President of the EC Ursula von der Leyen would not visit Hungary together with the other Commissioners during the EU Presidency, which had been a tradition so far. It was a reaction to Orbán’s recent visits to China, Ukraine and Russia, which, according to Brussels, were not in line with EU policy.
Hungarian Prime Minister met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on 2 July in Kyiv. The meeting came just a day after Hungary took over the six-month Presidency of the Council of the EU. A highly controversial visit to Moscow followed, where Orbán held talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and was then received in Beijing by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Today, the newly-elected European Parliament has also reacted to Orbán’s recent actions, by adopting a Resolution which states that the Hungarian Prime Minister blatantly violated EU agreements. The document points out that Orbán’s recent visit to Russia was not a policy of the Union, but a blatant violation of the EU’s Agreement and the common foreign policy.
Vladimir Međak: No major decisions on EU enlargement are expected to be reached by the end of the year
Vladimir Međak, a Vice President of the European Movement in Serbia, states for the European Western Balkans that the partial boycott of the Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council is a symbolic gesture towards Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán, because of his visits to Moscow and Beijing.
“Although the visits were bilateral, the timing, i.e. the fact that these visits took place immediately after Hungary took over the Presidency of the Council of the EU, as well as the messages conveyed there, caused negative reactions of EU member states and the Commission and sparked the accusations of Hungary’s disloyalty. Such a boycott has never happened before. The Commission will partially boycott the Hungarian Presidency of the Council, it has been announced that the meetings organised in Budapest will not be attended by Commissioners but by senior civil servants, including Directors-General, who can participate in decision-making on behalf of the Commissioners. In addition, The College of the European Commission will not visit Hungary, which has been originally planned and agreed,” Vladimir Međak explains.
Međak points out that such a decision by the EC is symbolic, especially since no major decisions on EU enlargement are expected to be reached by the end of the year, that is until a new Commission is elected and takes office. At the same time, he notes that ministerial meetings in Brussels and Luxembourg will go smoothly.
Hungary reacted to the boycott announcement by the statement of the EU Minister János Bóka, who criticized the Commission. Bóka claimed that the EC could not cherry-pick institutions and member states it wanted to cooperate with.
Erkki Bahovski: Orbán’s behaviour should not come as a surprise to the European Commission
Erkki Bahovski, an Estonian journalist who covers the foreign policy topics, also claims that the decision by the European Commission to boycott the Hungarian presidency will not have a long standing effect on the enlargement, since the Presidency lasts only six months whereas the enlargement is a process taking years to complete.
“In addition, before the enlargement the EU itself must reform itself – given that there would be more than 30 member states the current decision mechanism would not suffice to keep the EU functioning. On the other hand, it is not very wise to boycott something – the EU is always trying to engage in dialogue. It should not come as a surprise to the European Commission that Mr Orbán would do something like that to meet with Mr Putin and Mr Xi, and to be prepared”, Erkki Bahovski underlines.
Bahovski adds that he is personally confused why Mr Orbán is doing what he is doing.
“Perhaps it can be explained when it comes to China, since Hungary has no bitter history with China, but with Russia it is different. Mr Orbán does not seem to understand that he and Hungary are just pawns in Russia’s geopolitical power play and whenever it suits Russia Hungary would be abandoned immediately. Look what happened to Armenia (which hoped for Russian help in a war against Azerbaijan) or Israel (which hoped that Russia helps to tame Hamas). Imperial thinking implies you have no friends and allies”, Bahovski remarks.