pt-pt flag go to the original language article
This article has been translated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The news agency is not responsible for the content of the translated article. The original was published by Lusa.

Portuguese government says that the absence of ministers at meetings in Hungary has “political significance”

by AI | 23.Jul 2024 | Europe in brief AI

Atmosphere of unease in which Hungary’s presidency of the EU Council began is the basis of the decision.

The Hungarian inventor Erno Rubik holds a 3D Rubik's Cube puzzle in his hands during an interview with AFP in Budapest on April 29, 2024. On a spring day in 1974, Hungarian architecture professor Erno Rubik created the first prototype of a movable cube made of small wooden blocks and held together by a unique mechanism. ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP

The Minister of Foreign Affairs today dismissed that there is a political boycott of the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), but admitted “political significance” in the absence of Portuguese ministers from meetings in Budapest.

“What I will say is subject to continuous review. We [Portugal] will have political representation [in informal meetings], but not at the ministerial level […]. It has political significance, but there is no political boycott here,” said Paulo Rangel, after a ministerial meeting in Brussels.

The official referred to the climate of discomfort in which the Hungarian presidency of the EU Council began on July 1 and will last until the end of the year.

In the first week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán traveled to Kiev, then Moscow and Beijing. The meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin was highly criticized not only by the majority of member states but also by the outgoing President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the re-elected President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

Following the meetings with Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping, Orbán presented a proposal to end the conflict in Ukrainian territory, which includes, among other points, dialoguing with Russia and allowing China to mediate the process.

Portugal decided not to be represented by ministers at informal meetings organized by Hungary.

“Something that was clear is that there is an overwhelming majority of member states that condemned Viktor Orbán’s initiatives within the framework of relations with Ukraine.

Despite Viktor Orbán not having a European title, the fact that he acted in this way during the Hungarian presidency creates a contradiction between his view on how to deal with the conflict in Ukraine and the EU’s view,” concluded the Portuguese official.