EU Parliament’s Conference of Presidents to discuss Orbán’s case

The Conference of Presidents is set to discuss Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s recent controversial trips to Kyiv, Moscow, and Beijing in a meeting on Thursday (11 July), even considering possible repercussions, Euractiv has learned.

Orbán’s recent meetings with Russian President Vladamir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have raised concerns in Brussels and European Union capitals, particularly as Hungary is heading the European Council until the end of 2024.

In a two-hour meeting on Wednesday, EU ambassadors representing member states slammed Orbán’s “peace missions”, but no concrete measure was adopted.

The topic will now be on the agenda at Thursday’s Conference of Presidents, which is composed of the President of the European Parliament and the chairpersons of the political groups and is responsible for organising the legislative and political agenda of the Parliament.

Euractiv has learnt that various measures could be considered, including the possibility of boycotting or prematurely ending the Hungarian presidency, appealing to previous Belgian or Spanish presidencies, or even speeding up the Polish presidency.

“Honestly, the possibility of boycotting the Hungarian presidency was discussed from his (Orbán’s) first trip, the one to Kyiv,” an official from the liberal Renew group told Euractiv.

For now, the implications of the discussions to be held at the Conference of Presidents are still uncertain, and opinions differ as to how serious they may be, but relations between the 26 and the Hungarian Presidency will likely become more tense for what remains after the “less than the second week of Viktor Orban’s presidency”.

[Edited by Alice Taylor]

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