During the first week of Hungary’s presidency, Orbán met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, when he suggested that Zeleksky consider a ceasefire with a deadline, followed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, to discuss a resolution to the conflict. EU leaders responded immediately, insisting that Orbán did not represent the EU Council during his meeting with Putin especially.
Since then, EU officials have argued that Orbán’s visit to Russia may have been illegal. According to the EU’s legal service, the Hungarian PM’s actions violated the bloc’s treaties that forbid any “measure which could jeopardize the attainment of the Union’s objectives.”
They also said he had violated a legal provision calling on all members to perform foreign policy activities “unreservedly in a spirit of loyalty and mutual solidarity.” The European Parliament concurred in a resolution, labeling Orbán’s meeting with Putin “a blatant violation of the EU’s Treaties and common foreign policy.”
Some 63 European Parliament lawmakers issued a statement asking the EU to withdraw Hungary’s voting rights in the bloc, claiming Orbán “has already caused significant damage by exploiting and abusing the role of the Council Presidency.”
Meanwhile, a growing number of EU countries have started pulling ministers out of a series of informal gatherings in Budapest in a symbolic show of protest. At a recent Hungarian-hosted gathering of energy officials in Budapest, several countries neglected to send senior ministers, with at least four saying it was in protest.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, officially announced that an upcoming foreign affairs summit, previously scheduled to take place in Budapest on Aug. 28-29, would now occur in Brussels.
“We have to send a signal, even if it is a symbolic signal, that being against the foreign policy of the European Union and disqualifying the policy of the European Union as the ‘party of war’ has to have some consequences,” Borrell said.
In the meantime, Hungary and Slovakia reported on July 18 that they had stopped receiving oil from Russian supplier Lukoil after Ukraine imposed a ban in June on the transit of resources from the company through its territory.
Although Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said that Hungary’s deliveries of crude had been secured with “temporary solutions” the following day, he said Ukraine’s measures had come “as a shock.” He called the step “incomprehensible, unacceptable and unfriendly,” noting that deliveries of Russian crude to Hungary and Slovakia through the Druzhba (“Friendship”) pipeline that runs through Ukraine were exempt from EU sanctions.
Hungary and Slovakia initiated a consultation procedure at the European Union against Ukraine for violating the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.
“We are currently studying the contents of this letter and gathering more information before taking any decision,” an EC spokesperson said. However, Szijjártó said Hungary would block EU refunds for member states that gave munitions to Ukraine until it allowed the transit of oil from Russia’s Lukoil through its territory.
“As long as this issue is not resolved by Ukraine, everyone should forget about the payment of the EUR 6.5 billion of the European Peace Facility compensation for arms transfers,” Szijjártó told broadcaster ATV.
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of July 26, 2024.
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