On Monday 22 July, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, announced that the informal meeting of foreign affairs ministers - known as the ‘Gymnich’ meeting - which was due to take place in Budapest on 28 and 29 August, would be held in Brussels.
Foreign affairs ministers discussed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ‘peace mission’ and the comments made by his minister, Péter Szijjártó, accusing the EU of pushing for war. These comments are “completely unacceptable”, according to the High Representative. “The European Union is supporting Ukraine and we need to finish this war on the basis of the United Nations Charter”, he stressed on his arrival at the Council. He pointed out that “the only one who is pro-war is Putin”.
According to Mr Borrell, 25 Member States have criticised Hungary’s action - Slovakia, according to Hungarian spokesman Zoltán Kovács, has no objections to the mission. “After listening to everyone, I had to take a decision and consider that, if the 25 were firmly opposed to the Hungarian position (...), we had to send a signal, that being against EU policy, or disqualifying it, should have formal and symbolic consequences”, he explained, adding that the informal meeting would be held in Brussels after the holidays. He acknowledged that the Member States were very divided on the issue.
The High Representative rejected the term “boycott”, explaining that the meeting would indeed take place, but at a different venue.
Prior to the official announcement of Mr Borrell’s decision, Péter Szijjártó had described the attempt to undermine Hungary’s planned informal Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Budapest as “childish”. According to Mr Kovács, the minister specified that Hungary was ready to host the meeting, but that it was also willing to attend if it took place in Brussels. Mr Szijjártó regretted that Hungary had been confronted with “aggressive and warmongering hysteria” about its ‘peace mission’ at the meeting.
Importance of unity
Despite the tensions, Mr Borrell recalled that virtually all ministers had stressed the need to remain united. European unity is “the best weapon against this Russian aggression against Ukraine, which has been going on for two and a half years”, said the Spanish minister, José Manuel Albares. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)