BRUSSELS ― A meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Budapest next month could be canceled over mounting anger at Hungary’s love-in with Russia.
The head of the gathering, Irish Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe, will decide by next week whether or not it will go ahead, two EU officials granted anonymity to discuss ongoing talks told POLITICO.
At the moment, the meeting, scheduled for Sept. 13, is still officially taking place, a spokesperson for the Eurogroup said. But one of the officials said intense capital-to-capital contact was taking place to assess how many ministers were considering boycotting irrespective of Donohoe’s decision.
Talks between finance ministers generally take place once a month ― but twice a year in the country that holds the rotating presidency of the EU. Soon after Hungary took the reins in July Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, visited Kyiv, Moscow, Beijing and Washington for self-declared “peace missions”. He claimed, without authorization, to be representing the EU.
A preparatory meeting with senior civil servants is scheduled for Sept. 5 and 6. Unusually, there is currently no information about the Eurogroup available on the Council of the EU’s website.
Several ministers have already signaled that they will not attend the meeting even if it goes ahead in Hungary, including German Finance Minister Christian Lindner and his counterparts from Estonia, Finland and Lithuania.
In July, several countries boycotted ministerial meetings in Budapest in retaliation against Orbán’s visits.
The European Commission has said its top officials will not participate in any of the meetings during Hungary’s six-month presidency, which runs until the end of the year, sparking indignation from Budapest.
During a public meeting of EU finance ministers in July, multiple ministers criticized Orbán for meeting Putin and not prioritizing aid for Ukraine.
Several ministerial meetings are scheduled to take place before the Eurogroup. Gatherings of EU foreign and defense ministers will be held this week in Brussels instead of Budapest after the EU’s diplomatic chief moved the location.
Donohoe will likely gauge the mood at the Brussels talks before taking the decision over whether to cancel, the officials said.
Gregorio Sorgi contributed reporting.