EU fumes
at rogue Orbán, but struggles to rein him in
Brussels is
annoyed with Budapest, but Hungary’s leader seems to know exactly how far he
can go without drawing real consequences.
Hungary says
it doesn’t know what all the fuss is about.
JULY 11, 2024 4:00 AM CET
BY BARBARA MOENS
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-fumes-rogue-viktor-orban-hungarian-presidency-envoy-brussels/
BRUSSELS — When it comes to dealing with Budapest, Brussels’
bark is worse than its bite.
At a meeting on Wednesday, Hungary’s envoy to the EU, Bálint
Ódor, took an “unprecedented” verbal beating from his Brussels colleagues over
how Budapest has kicked off its turn at the head of the Council of the EU. The
meeting lasted over two hours, with Slovakia the only country not taking the
floor.
“It’s unprecedented that the presidency would be reprimanded
in such a way by all the others,” said one senior EU diplomat, who was granted
anonymity to speak about a confidential meeting.
Since Budapest took over the rotating EU presidency last
week, Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán has undertaken self-declared “peace
missions” to Kyiv, Moscow, Beijing and Washington.
Hungary says
it doesn’t know what all the fuss is about.
At a packed press conference in Brussels on Wednesday,
Hungary’s EU Minister János Bóka said the discussions “were not on behalf of
the EU, these were not conducted based on a mandate from the European
institutions, these were not conducted in the name of the European Union or any
of its institutions.
“The prime
minister is aware of the responsibilities that the presidency of the Council of
the EU entails, and in [the] spirit of this responsibility he debriefed the
president of the European Council and heads of state and governments on these
visits.”
But EU ambassadors pushed back against those claims on
Wednesday, echoing many of their leaders who have already publicly condemned
the trips.
The envoys noted the “timing and sequencing of the meetings,
[the] use of presidency hashtags, and the reaction of [Russian President
Vladimir] Putin,” an EU diplomat said, like others in this piece granted
anonymity to speak freely. “The lines were clearly and deliberately blurred.
And Orbán went counter to the letter and spirit of EUCO conclusions, thereby
hurting EU unity,” the diplomat added, referring to summits of EU leaders.
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Another EU diplomat marveled that “it took nine days for the
Hungarian presidency to lose any smidgen of trust they had left,” adding that
Orbán’s “actions are not serving the EU or peace. They play into the hands of
Putin and his war project. The Hungarian slogan to ‘make Europe great again’ is
more about making Russia great again at this stage.”
What can be
done?
European capitals are struggling to go beyond public
condemnations of Hungary’s rogue presidency, however.
“In reality, the options are limited,” an EU official said.
Changing the order of the presidencies or shortening Hungary’s six-month turn
at the helm of the EU might have been options at one point, but are now legally
fraught as the presidency is underway, the official said.
Former Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said the
Court of Justice of the EU “would rule against” such moves, while “other
countries would fear creating a precedent.”
In the Wednesday meeting not a single ambassador raised the
possibility of scrapping the presidency, several EU diplomats said.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of anger.
Estonian MEP Riho Terras is rallying support in the European
Parliament to call on the bloc’s top leadership to trigger Article 7 of the
Treaty on the European Union against Hungary. It’s the most serious political
sanction that can be imposed on a member country, and involves suspending its
right to vote on EU decisions. But it’s also a nuclear option that European
capitals have shied away from so far.
“He’s smart,” the EU official said, referring to Orbán. “He
knows exactly how far he can go without risking immediate retaliation.”
Instead, several EU ambassadors threatened “practical
consequences” if Orbán continues to pursue his current path, two other EU
diplomats said.
“He’s
smart,” the EU official said, referring to Orbán. “He knows exactly how far he
can go without risking immediate retaliation.” |
The most immediate option would be to boycott the informal
meetings of ministers organized by Budapest. At the first Hungarian Council
meeting on Tuesday, only eight countries (including Hungary) sent a minister.
Several EU ambassadors on Wednesday suggested a boycott of the informal meeting
of foreign ministers in Budapest at the end of August.
Bóka played down that possibility during his press
conference, saying Hungary has received no indication that other member states
won’t be sending ministers to meetings.
But that doesn’t mean retaliation is off the table in
future, EU diplomats warned. One described Wednesday’s meeting as a “yellow
card.”
Given how fast the situation with Budapest has escalated in
just the first fortnight of its presidency, nobody is ruling out even firmer
pushback from Brussels if Orbán crosses more red lines, such as in his dealings
with former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Brussels may yet consider showing Budapest the red card. For
now, the game continues.
Eddy Wax, Sarah Wheaton, Jacopo Barigazzi, Jakob Hanke Vela
and Federica Di Sario contributed reporting.
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