Borrell transfers the Foreign Affairs meeting called by Orbán in Budapest to Brussels

Eduardo González The high representative of Foreign and Security Policy of the EU, Josep Borrell, announced yesterday before the foreign ministers of the 27 of his decision to cancel the informal meeting of foreign ministers (Gymnich) that the Hungarian presidency planned to hold at the end of August in Budapest, in retaliation for the trips made by the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, to Russia and other countries without the support of the European Union. "Russia is the aggressor in violation of the United Nations Charter and Ukraine is the victim, exercising its fundamental rights to self-defense, and there is nothing hysteria in that, it is just telling the truth," Borrell declared at the conference. press after the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FEA), the first of the current Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council and held in Brussels. “Any so-called 'peace mission' that ignores these basic fundamentals will only benefit Putin and will not bring peace,” he warned, referring to the “peace mission” carried out by Orbán to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. the end of the war in Ukraine. The Prime Minister made this trip coinciding with the beginning of the Hungarian Presidency and with the express opposition of the rest of the EU. According to Borrell, Hungary, as an EU Member State, is bound by Article 24.3 of the EU Treaties, which states that all countries must support the Union's Foreign Policy “actively and unreservedly in a spirit of loyalty and mutual solidarity.” “Each Member State is sovereign in its Foreign Policy, but, to the extent that they are members of this club, they have to obey the treaties,” he added. In this context, Josep Borrell announced that the informal meeting of foreign ministers (known as Gymnich) scheduled for August 28 and 29 in Budapest, will be held in Brussels. “We have to send a signal, even if it is symbolic, that being against EU policies has to have some consequences,” he warned. In response to this announcement, the Hungarian Government spokesman, Zoltan Kovac, denounced the “aggressive and warlike hysteria” of the EU against the “peace mission” and assured, through the social network” to hold the meeting in Hungary, although “he is also willing to attend if it is held in Brussels.” Borrell's announcement comes after several Nordic countries and Poland announced their intention to boycott informal meetings planned by the Hungarian Presidency. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced her intention to send officials, instead of commissioners, to these meetings. Albares In this regard, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, assured in the press conference after the CAE that, during the meeting, he himself made it clear to his European counterparts that "Spain does not support boycotts within the EU" and that Spain's intention is to analyze “each meeting agenda by agenda, seeing Spain's interests that are at stake in that meeting and deciding the level at which it is attended.” Likewise, he warned that, "although the presidency (of the EU) has a very important role, the presidency also has the role of spokesperson for the 27, of seeking unity, and these actions (of Orbán) do not seek it." Regarding the Gymnich, Albares assured that "the high representative has at no time proposed a boycott, what he has raised is the possibility of calling a meeting in another EU city." In this regard, he recalled that, in accordance with the EU Treaties, “the person who calls the meeting is the high representative and, therefore, it will be the high representative who makes that decision.” “In order to call a Gymnich meeting, the unanimity of all the members is necessary, which has been confirmed to be not the case,” explained Albares, who insisted that, although Spain has supported Albares' position regarding the meeting of the foreign ministers, has also made “our position clear that we are not in favor of any boycott.” Albares made these statements after the second vice president of the Government, Yolanda Díaz, announced her intention to impeach the Hungarian presidency during the next meeting of labor ministers, to be held in Hungary. The third vice president, Teresa Ribera, has shown her opposition to the boycott and, like Albares, she has assured that she will attend the meetings depending on the agenda. Meanwhile, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, did participate yesterday in a meeting of the Hungarian Presidency of Ministers of the Interior and Justice.

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