EU leaders rally against Orban's rogue 'peace mission' to Moscow
EU leaders are preparing a joint response to Viktor Orban's actions, who is conducting a "peace mission" on his own, contrary to EU treaties. As the "Financial Times" reported, the Hungarian Prime Minister angered his EU and NATO allies when, after taking the six-month rotating presidency of the EU Council on 1 July, he flew to Moscow and discussed a peace plan with Putin.
During the NATO summit in Washington, informal groups of EU leaders discussed various response proposals, including writing a joint letter to Orban, expressing their outrage and demanding that he cease unauthorized travels related to EU foreign policy. According to "FT," quoting individuals informed about the discussions, one of them stated: "Enough is enough. There’s a lot of irritation and discussion over how to hit back."
Another proposal was to organise a special meeting of the foreign ministers of EU countries, which would be devoted exclusively to the issue of violations committed by Hungary.
"FT" reports that discussions on this topic occurred before and after a stormy meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels, during which most sharply condemned Orban's actions.
Alexander de Croo, acting Prime Minister of Belgium, who held the rotating presidency before Hungary, told "FT": - When we did the handover, [Orbán] told me that he would do everything to ensure continuity and not undermine the results of the Belgian EU presidency, and it’s obvious that’s not what he is doing. The way he is behaving is clearly not in line with the treaties.
Charles Michel, President of the European Council, who has the right to speak on behalf of the 27 countries, said in an interview in Washington: - Unity is the precondition to be strong, to have influence. When we are divided, we are weak. If there is an attempt to divide us, it is not the first time. We must ensure that the other 26 would stick to the [official EU] position and would not be divided by any attempt to instil doubts or some curious ideas.
