Viktor Orbán’s absence from the EU summit comes shortly after Fidesz’s crushing electoral defeat. The future of the Union will therefore be decided by the leaders without the Hungarian Prime Minister.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will not attend the informal summit of the European Council next week. This was confirmed by official EU sources for Politico magazine, reports TASR correspondent in Budapest.
- Viktor Orbán will not attend the informal summit of the European Council next week.
- The crushing defeat of Fidesz in the elections will end Viktor Orbán’s sixteen-year prime ministership.
- Orbán will remain as Prime Minister of Hungary for about another month.
- Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is likely to represent Orbán at the summit.
- António Costa described Orbán’s blocking of aid to Ukraine as completely unacceptable blackmail.
The ruling Fidesz party suffered a crushing defeat in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, which will end Orbán’s 16 years as prime minister. It will be there for about another month. He was originally scheduled to attend a two-day summit scheduled for April 23-24 where EU leaders will discuss the crisis in the Middle East and the Union’s next seven-year budget, but he will skip the summit, according to the magazine’s source.
Another politician will replace Orbán
Based on the rules of the Council, Orbán will be represented at the meeting by the leader of another member state. This role will probably be taken over by his ally, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, writes Politico.
The Hungarian prime minister often uses his veto power to block sanctions against Russia and EU aid to Ukraine. At an EU summit last month, European Council President António Costa said Orbán’s behavior amounted to “blackmail” and was “completely unacceptable”.
