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WOODSTOCK (ANP) – The chairman of the EU government leaders, Charles Michel, is firmly against a boycott of informal EU meetings in Hungary. With that position, Michel of the European Council stands in direct opposition to the course of the European Commission. On Monday, it announced a boycott of Hungarian meetings to punish the country for the solo trips of the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Unwise, Michel says on the sidelines of a summit of European leaders in Woodstock, England. Because division can only be to the advantage of forces that want to weaken Europe, he thinks. And by ignoring Hungary now, “you feed the narrative of forces that want to show that the European Union is not functioning well.”
A collision of views between the two European institutions is possible. The institutions can each decide for themselves what to do, as can the EU member states. But an unclear EU course is exactly what Europe should not show now, according to Michel.
“It is important not to respond to a provocation with another provocation,” Michel says about a possible boycott in response to Orbán’s recent trips to Moscow and Beijing.
Moreover, informal summits, such as those planned in Hungary for the coming half year, are very important for European decision-making and solidarity, according to Michel. Because ministers or government leaders sometimes “need more time” when they notice at a European meeting table that their initial position may need to be adjusted. “So that next time they move a little more towards the position of the colleague countries.”
According to Michel, with a boycott, “we would actually only be punishing ourselves” because those contact moments would then be cancelled.
The European Commission of Ursula von der Leyen decided on Monday to boycott the meetings organized by Hungary and, for the time being, to send only officials instead of European commissioners.
(July 18, 2024)