EU Council Approves Ukraine Funding, Hungary’s Interests Protected
Viktor Orbán has lifted his veto on €50 billion in financial aid for Ukraine, relying on the guarantees provided by EU leaders.
Viktor Orbán has lifted his veto on €50 billion in financial aid for Ukraine, relying on the guarantees provided by EU leaders.
In her welcoming speech at the reception of the Ambassadors accredited to Hungary, President Novák addressed the global challenges facing our world, the future of Europe, and Hungary’s role on the international stage.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán emphasised that Budapest and Warsaw will join forces to protect the agricultural workers of Central Europe from the negative effects of ‘grain dumps’ coming from Ukraine.
During the European Council summit on Thursday, EU leaders welcomed the Ukrainian president to Brussels, showing support for the West’s ally as Ukraine gets ready for an anticipated Russian offensive.
On 1 July, Denmark is assuming the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. They will be carrying over European competitiveness as a major priority from the Hungarian presidency a year ago. However, on the issues of migration, Russian energy imports, and Ukraine’s EU accession, they are taking the exact opposite stances, as discussed on the Hungarian news channel Hír TV.
European competitiveness was made the top priority of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2024, thus the meetings of the EU Competitiveness Council have carried special, added significance to them. The last of these meetings took place last week under the Hungarian Presidency, where five conclusions were adopted by the Member States.
The leaders of the EU Member States will convene in Budapest on Friday for an informal European Council meeting. While not much is known about the agenda, Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election is likely to significantly influence the mood and the priorities of the discussion.
The Patriots for Europe EP group held their first summit on Thursday in Brussels. The meeting was attended by all the leaders of the PfE parties and took place ahead of the European Council summit scheduled to discuss the war in Ukraine, migration, as well as key economic policies, all of which Hungary differs on with most member states.
The informal meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council took place amid heightened tensions in Brussels on 29 August. The mood was set by Josep Borrell’s decision to relocate the meeting from Budapest to the Belgian capital as a signal of disapproval of Viktor Orbán’s peace mission. Ahead of the meeting, pro-war ministers issued statements criticizing the Hungarian government, and the tense atmosphere carried over into the discussions in the meeting room.
Two elections this week at the Council of Europe will determine the institution’s future orientation. On Tuesday, 25 June the new Secretary General of the Council of Europe will be elected for a five-year term. On Wednesday, 26 June three new judges for the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will be elected for a nine-year term. Senior Research Fellow at the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) Nicolas Bauer points out the risk of a leftist takeover.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.