Hungary Stripped of EU Meetings Over Ukraine Peace Mission

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Facts

  • Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, on Monday moved to rebuke Hungary over its solo attempts at finding peace in Ukraine, announcing that the next set of foreign and defense minister meetings will be held in Brussels rather than Budapest.1
  • This comes after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, once his country assumed the rotating EU presidency earlier this month, traveled to meet the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, and China, as well as the US presidential candidate Donald Trump, in an effort to find a negotiated settlement in Ukraine.2
  • Announcing the move of venue to reporters on Monday, Borrell said, 'We have to send a signal, even if this is a symbolic signal,' adding that Hungary's uncoordinated actions must 'have some formal consequences.'1
  • In response, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said: 'What a fantastic response they have come up with. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but it feels like being in a kindergarten.'1
  • In a separate diplomatic spat, Ukraine sanctioned Lukoil, Russia's largest private oil firm, and restricted the flow of its exports via pipelines that pass through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia. Both countries are heavily reliant on Russian oil for their energy.3
  • Hungary's Szijjártó described it as 'unacceptable' and alleged that the move violated the EU's 2014 association agreement with Ukraine. He added that the European Commission has been asked to mediate — a precursor to legal action being taken.3

Sources: 1www.euractiv.com, 2BBC News and 3POLITICO.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Euronews. Russia, as the aggressor in this war, violated the UN charter. Any self-styled peace mission that fails to recognize this reality is unacceptable. Hungary must be shown that it cannot violate EU treaties and its foreign policy without consequences.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Dailynewshungary.Com. Continuing the pro-war hysteria by the EU, Hungary's attempts at ending the two-and-a-half-year war — with negative consequences for all — are treated as Kremlin propaganda. This is an absurd, bad faith, and immature argument.

Predictions