European Council President Charles Michel has come out against potential boycotts of meetings during Hungary’s rotating presidency of the EU Council.
Michel's viewpoint, which he expressed on Thursday, differs from the strategy adopted by the European Commission earlier this week. The Commission suggested barring European ministers from visiting Hungary next month, following Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s visit to Russian President Vladimir Putin in early July.
“This is not reasonable,” Michel is reported as saying by Dutch news agency ANP during a European leaders’ summit in Woodstock, England. He claims the discord between European institutions and the Hungarian presidency only benefits parties wanting to weaken Europe. Ignoring Hungary would amplify claims that the European Union is not functioning effectively.
“It is crucial not to counter provocation with more provocation,” Michel said, regarding a potential boycott in response to Orban’s recent trips to Moscow and Beijing.
According to Michel, informal summits, such as those scheduled in Hungary and elsewhere over the next six months, are extremely important for European decision-making and cohesion. By missing these key moments of interaction, Europeans would be “punishing themselves.”
Ursula von der Leyen, the newly re-elected European Commission president, has decided to send senior civil servants, instead of commissioners, to attend various meetings scheduled under Hungary’s presidency.
