The European Union may start making statements on behalf of 26 member states, rather than all 27, after a series of Hungarian vetoes on a number of issues.
This was stated by the EU diplomat to journalists in Brussels, Euractiv reports.
The announcement followed a series of EU-level vetoes by Hungary on international affairs. In April, she blocked an EU statement criticizing China’s security law in Hong Kong, and on May 18 refused to join 26 other foreign ministers in calling for a truce in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Then on Friday, Hungary said it could not approve an EU trade and development agreement with countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific because it would increase the number of migrants in the bloc.
Asked how other EU countries felt about the Hungarian vetoes, an EU diplomat, who asked not to be named, said the rest of the bloc was unhappy.
However, he then noted that this is not a completely new situation and that other countries in the past have created an obstacle in a different context, for example, the Netherlands blocked the ratification of the Association Agreement with Ukraine.
The diplomat added that the difference, apparently, is that the Netherlands has made efforts to resolve the situation.
“Most of the member countries that have a problem are looking for ways to solve it. We have not seen this in Hungary, “ the diplomat said.
“We consistently agree on very important international issues by 26 countries and cannot agree with 27. That’s not good. There is certainly an opportunity to make statements from 26 countries, but this is not preferable, “ he added.
However, the diplomat said that, in his opinion, it does not matter much if, for example, the EU declaration on Hong Kong is supported by 27 or 26 member states.
“This will not weaken the EU on a global scale. But this is contrary to the spirit of the EU. We try to take into account the views of countries with individual problems, but we expect these individual states to come up with constructive ideas to solve the problem, and I would like to see more from Budapest, “ he said.
