ECU FEI to partially boycott Hungary’s presidency – DW – 07/16/2024

The EU’s main branch in Brussels is partially boycotting Hungary’s six-month term in office, in keeping with Hungarian High Minister Viktor Orban’s self-proclaimed “peace mission”. That’s in keeping with the self-proclaimed “peace mission” they launched to take over in the first place. past.

Within the first days of the Hungarian presidency, Orbán visited Kiev, Moscow, Beijing, and Washington for the NATO summit, and visited Donald Trump in Florida.

The trip was Orban’s first to Kiev after Russia’s invasion, even though Hungary borders Ukraine.

He called the trip an entertainment venture and attempted to portray himself as one of those “very few” EU and NATO presidents who still hold meaningful talks in Moscow and interact with both sides. Are ready for.

The Smart Complaint unexpectedly gained adoption from alternative EU member states and Hungary’s NATO allies.

Commissioners disagree to wait for Hungary Council conferences

The ECU Commission said on Monday it would launch a partisan boycott over Hungary’s six-month stay at the ECU Council presidency.

The EU’s government arm said it would only send high-ranking officials to the informal meetings, not any of the EU’s 27 commissioners — meaning Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and several of her subordinates.

Von der Leyen’s spokesman Eric Mamer said, “In light of recent developments at the beginning of the Hungarian presidency, (Ursula von der Leyen) has decided to represent the European Commission only at senior civil servant level during informal meetings of the Council. Will go.” where did it go.

“There will be no college tour of the presidency,” Mamer said of the six-monthly meeting, which typically brings together all or several of the 27 commissioners in the nation’s capital while maintaining the rotating status.

In most cases this consultation is initiated within a 6 month period, in the hope that dialogue will begin for further planning and action.

Many member countries close to Russia have already taken this step

The EU’s decision on Monday follows in the footsteps of an order by EU member states, many of which are located close to Russia’s borders.

The government of Sweden has announced that it, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland will not send ministers to government conferences related to Hungary’s EU presidency throughout July in protest at Orbán’s talks with Putin in Moscow.

Swedish Minister for European Union Affairs Jessica Roswall said that day that the nations would be represented only through civil servants and that alternative EU members were considering homogeneous steps.

Hungary says EU can’t ‘cherry pick out’

Hungary responded seriously to Monday’s announcement, arguing that Brussels was successfully playing favorites when the aim of the rotating presidency is to give tenure to all individuals at the top.

“The EU is an international organization formed by its member states. The European Commission is an institution of the EU,” Hungary’s EU affairs minister Janos Bocca wrote on social media.

“The European Commission cannot choose the institutions and Member States with which it wants to cooperate. Are all Commission decisions now based on political considerations?”. They said.

What is the ‘ECU Council Presidency’ and what is it subject to?

3 The political establishment supports the EU.

The ECU is charge dominant and drafts maximum legislation and possesses a lot of technical energy. Its 27 commissioners are appointed, at least in theory and conceivably in place, in line with the outcome of the ECU Parliament elections.

The ECU Parliament, together with the elected persons of all Member States, must log out through majority voting on all tariff proposals, and may also advise the Commission on steps to take into account.

However almost the entire EU wants the utmost mercy from the ECU Council.

Counterintuitively, this group does not actually side with “EU” officials. Rather, it is composed of 27 elected governments from each member state.

The Council must log out on almost all EU policy – ​​including unanimity and certified majority voting procedures for the most sensitive issues – before it can be enacted in any other way.

The President of the ECU Council, most recently Charles Michel, is whose job is to help coordinate those negotiations and build consensus, as well as liaise and negotiate with other EU establishments.

However, it is the ECU governments that order the reins of the Council to be reserved for six months each, that period being known as their presidency.

The holder of the presidency does not have many voting rights and the ability to behave unruly, meaning that there are all the same obstacles to implementing coverage practices for him or her as the president.

However, it is in a position to control the timetable a bit and decide which problems will be addressed (or ignored) during its tenure.

Given the way Orbán has handled Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since 2022, Hungary’s term at the helm has been regarded with trepidation for some time.

msh/lo (AP, dpa, Reuters)