The Diplomat
For the moment, Spain is not considering a total boycott of the informal meetings organized in Hungarian territory by the rotating presidency of the EU Council that Hungary currently holds and will decide on a case-by-case basis, according to sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Europa Press.
The trip made by the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, to Moscow to meet with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, at the start of the Hungarian Presidency, which was followed by meetings in Beijing with the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, and later with the Former US President Donald Trump, has caused discomfort in the majority of the Member States and the European Commission, which has made Budapest ugly with this behavior.
Furthermore, some of these countries have spoken of boycotting the informal meetings convened by the Orbán Government during this semester and the European Commission itself has announced that it will not send the commissioner of the sector to these meetings.
In Spain, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, already said that Orbán was “flying freely” and that none of those trips or meetings were made on behalf of the EU and therefore he could not speak on behalf of the Twenty-Seven. while the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, was very critical on Wednesday in the Congress of Deputies with the Hungarian president for taking “photos” with Putin and for trying to block sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.
However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs defends that the Council and the rotating Presidency, which Hungary currently holds, “have an indisputable institutional role in the EU” since it addresses many issues that have an impact on the lives of citizens and ” in which we must work with unity and loyalty”.
In this sense, asked if the Government is considering boycotting the informal councils held under the Hungarian presidency in this country, as it has said it will do, for example, Sweden, which will not send ministers, the cited sources indicated that, “in continuous contact with the other Member States and institutions, Spain has been evaluating the agendas and participation in Council meetings, ensuring adequate representation and the continuity of institutional work that should not be interrupted.”
That is, the Spanish authorities will study the agenda and make the decision on a case-by-case basis as to what level of representation our country will have in the different meetings.
This positioning comes after the second vice president and leader of Sumar, Yolanda Díaz, announced on Tuesday in Brussels that she had no intention of attending the informal Employment Council in October in Budapest. “I have not been able to speak with Foreign Affairs, but we are working on this and I do anticipate that I will not attend,” she said.
To date, Budapest has hosted two informal ministerial meetings. To the first of them, the Competitiveness meeting on July 8, Spain did not send a minister, although it is not unusual for State Secretaries to represent their countries at these meetings, while to the Environment meeting, on July 11 July, the third vice president, Teresa Ribera, did attend. At this week’s meeting of Energy Ministers the first formula was repeated and there was no ministerial representation.
On Monday and Tuesday of next week there will be an informal meeting of the Ministers of Justice and the Interior. From the department headed by Fernando Grande-Marlaska, they indicated to Europa Press that in principle “this will be on Monday, while a priori the head of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts, Félix Bolaños, would not be scheduled to attend on Tuesday.
The next day, an informal meeting of Health Ministers is convened in the Hungarian capital. From the department headed by Mónica García they announced that the minister will not be able to attend, since that day there is an interterritorial council, and she will send the State Secretary.
