Subscribe here: [ Ссылка ] Hungary took over the 27-nation bloc’s rotating presidency in July. Orbán immediately made a surprise trip to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, angering several of his EU counterparts, who insisted that the Hungarian leader did not represent them.

“I will ask also my colleague (European Affairs Minister János Bóka) if tomorrow he plans a trip to Moscow, because this seems to be a habit for Hungarian politicians,” Luxembourg Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel said at a meeting in Budapest.

Beyond its ties with Russia, Orbán’s government has irritated its EU partners by promoting hostility to migrants and LGBTQ+ rights, and by controlling public media. Millions of euros in EU funds have also been frozen over concerns about democratic backsliding in Hungary.

Bettel, his Belgian counterpart Hadja Lahbib and Irish European Affairs Minister Jennifer Carroll McNeill said that they had held joint meetings with members of the Hungarian media, civil society and LGBTQ+ representatives ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, which Bóka chaired.

“This is extremely important to us in Ireland: human rights, fundamental freedoms, rule of law,” Carroll McNeill said. “I’m pleased to be here with my colleagues to just further discuss the rule of law and the concerns that we have and as they relate to the future of Europe.”

The ministers made their statements directly to a Hungarian TV camera, without prompting from reporters. It was an unusual and potentially embarrassing public display for Hungary, given that EU member countries rarely criticize each other in public.

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