EU Commission boycotts Hungary

For the first time in its history, the European Union (EU) Commission has decided to boycott a member country.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced that commissioners will no longer attend meetings in Hungary, which took over the EU’s rotating presidency on July 1.

According to sources in Brussels, this decision was taken due to the reaction to the visits of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who holds the EU Presidency, to Moscow and Beijing as part of his self-declared “peace mission.”

Hungary, which has differences of opinion with the Brussels administration on many issues, especially relations with Russia and support for Ukraine, came face to face with the EU administration in the second week of its EU Presidency.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that they will not be sending any more ministers to the meetings in Hungary, which will hold the EU presidency until January 1, 2025.

The EU administration will be represented only by bureaucrats at the meetings in Hungary.

According to von der Leyen’s statement, the EU Commission’s regular working visit to Budapest was also cancelled as part of the boycott decision. Traditionally, all commission members pay an official visit to each country that takes over the rotating presidency.

The European Parliament also cancelled the new EU Term President Orban’s regular speech to the general assembly.

This is a first in EU history. No other presidency has ever imposed such sanctions against a country before.

Ursula von der Leyen announced that this decision was taken “in light of recent developments.” According to diplomatic sources in Brussels, this is a clear reaction to the “peace mission” that Hungarian Prime Minister Orban declared after taking over the EU Presidency.

Orban made a surprise visit to Ukraine after taking over the EU Presidency.

The Hungarian Prime Minister’s next stop was Russia, which the EU has imposed sanctions on.

Orban’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow sparked reactions from EU countries and the Brussels administration, which has suspended relations with Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine.

After Russian President Vladimir Putin, Orbán also visited Chinese President Xi Jinping and US presidential candidate Donald Trump

Although Orbán said that he made these visits “not as the EU Presidency but as the Prime Minister of Hungary,” he did not soften the reaction of many member states.

In order to protest this visit, the members of the Union, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and Finland, decided to send only bureaucrats, not ministers, to the unofficial meetings organised by Hungary.

According to some EU member states, Orban is abusing his presidency by giving the impression that he is acting on behalf of the union.

The EU Presidency countries, which rotate every 6 months, do not have the authority to express their views on foreign policy on behalf of the union.

Many European leaders, especially EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell, consider Orban’s first meeting with Putin to be “unacceptable” in terms of EU policies.

The boycott decision taken by the EU Commission means that it will make it harder for Europe to make decisions on legislative proposals over the next six months.

The postponement of the traditional visit to Budapest by the Commission and the European Parliament, which are influential in the decision-making process in the EU, will also cause the proposals for the new legislative year to be disrupted.

Adapting the slogan used by Donald Trump in the US elections to the EU, Orban aimed to determine the EU’s agenda for the new period with his discourse of “Make Europa Great Again”.

However, it is stated that the boycott decision taken by the commission will not give Hungary much room for maneuver.

The EU administration, which was disturbed by Hungary’s presidency, quickly implemented full membership negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, new sanctions against Russia and Belarus, and financial support for Ukraine under Belgium’s presidency.

According to EU sources in Brussels, new regulations that will affect the functioning of the EU will not be on the agenda in the next 6 months due to the new EU administration and preparations that will be formed after the European Parliament elections.

For this reason, it is stated that the Orban administration will not have a significant negative impact on the functioning of the EU.

The European Parliament will vote on Thursday to elect Ursula von der Leyen, who announced her decision to boycott Hungary, as EU Commission President for a second term.

According to EU sources, with this decision, von der Leyen aims to gain the support of other parties against the far-right group founded by Orban, which is the third largest group in the European Parliament.