Viktor Orbán, self-appointed mediator

Less than a month into Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the European Union, and the controversy only grows. In early July, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (Fidesz, nationalist right) flew to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin as part of a “peace mission” to find a solution to the war in Ukraine. This is the first time a European leader has met the head of the Kremlin since the beginning of the conflict.

The Hungarian leader’s escapade – which also took him to Ukraine, China and the USA – caused an uproar within the European institutions, not least because Orbán positioned himself for both his hosts and the Hungarian public as a negotiator on behalf of Brussels, without having a mandate to do so.

With some people already thinking of boycotting the Hungarian presidency, Josep Borrell, the EU’s head of diplomacy, has announced that the informal meeting of foreign ministers scheduled for the end of August has been moved. The meeting will now be held in Brussels instead of Budapest, as had originally been planned by the rotating presidency.

More generally, Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the EU has been giving rise to serious concerns, with some observers questioning the political agenda championed by a country regularly at odds with the rest of the bloc.

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