BRUSSELS. Hungary has blocked a joint EU contribution to the summit for democracy organized by US President Joe Biden.
The veto was due to the fact that Prime Minister Viktor Orban, as the only head of state and government of an EU country, had not been invited to the online meeting next week, diplomats said in Brussels on Friday.
The attempt by the government in Budapest to prevent the participation of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel, however, had failed. A legal opinion has shown that they can also participate against the will of a member state.
Biden’s summit for democracy on Thursday and Friday will be about the fight against authoritarianism and corruption and promoting respect for human rights. The Hungarian Prime Minister Orban is accused by critics of not being a role model on these issues.
Diplomats, meanwhile, admitted that the government blockade in Budapest did not come as a surprise. Not to invite Hungary as the only EU country was a considerable affront, it said. The EU contribution to the summit should be a position paper on the issues on the agenda. It had already been negotiated at the working level.
