By Andrew Gray and John Irish
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, stripped Hungary on Monday of its role as host of an EU foreign ministers meeting in a sign of widespread anger in the bloc at Budapest’s overtures to Russia about the war in Ukraine.
Borrell said the meeting planned for Budapest in late August would now take place in Brussels, after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Moscow and Beijing without EU backing and his government branded EU policy as “pro-war”.
“We have to send a signal, even if it is a symbolic signal,” Borrell told reporters in Brussels after a last meeting of EU foreign ministers before the summer break.
Orban began his self-styled peace mission – which included a visit to U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump – just days after Hungary took on the 27-nation EU’s rotating presidency on July 1.
At Monday’s meeting, many EU foreign ministers voiced strong condemnation of Budapest’s stance directly to their Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjarto, according to officials.
“This was very clear and was reiterated in a way that left no room for doubt,” Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said.
Many EU countries consider Hungary to be too close to Moscow, undermining EU efforts to isolate Russia politically and diplomatically over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Hungary says it is trying to bring peace to Ukraine as soon as possible.
Borrell said Budapest should be branding Russian President Vladimir Putin “pro-war”, not the European Union.
“If you want to talk about the war party, talk about Putin,” he said.
Anticipating the move before it was announced on Monday, Szijjarto branded Borrell’s decision “childish”.
“I really don’t want to offend anyone, but it’s probably a kindergarten-level debate,” he told reporters.
Borrell said there had been no consensus among EU members over whether to attend the meeting – planned for Aug. 28-29 – and a gathering of defence ministers afterwards.
He said he opted to switch both meetings to Brussels given that a majority of countries wanted to send a signal to Hungary.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said he had proposed holding the foreign ministers meeting in Ukraine but Hungary voted against the proposal.
EU countries including Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Denmark – as well as the European Commission, the EU executive body – have already downgraded their participation in EU ministerial meetings.
An informal foreign ministers’ meeting is one of the most high-profile and prestigious events hosted by a country when it hosts the EU’s rotating presidency.
(Additional reporting Bart Meijer in Brussels, Miranda Murray in Berlin and Boldizsar Gyori in Budapest; Editing by Alison Williams, Sharon Singleton and Rod Nickel)
