Herman Michiel

4 July 2024

The ‘rotating presidency’ of the EU Council passed from Belgium to Hungary on 1 July. This means that the meetings of that Council (composed of ministers from the member states) will be chaired by a minister from the presidency country for the six coming months. But it also means that the government of that country can set emphases, and may or may not commit to certain objectives.

When the Belgian presidency took effect on 1 January 2024, Prime Minister De Croo formulated its priorities. These included defending the rule of law, competitiveness, Europe’s borders and promoting Europe as a global player, alongside fill-up issues as a just green transition and strengthening the social and health agenda. Peace was not among De Croo’s priorities, even though wars are ongoing in Ukraine and Israel with major implications for the EU.

On 1 July, Viktor Orbán took over from Alexander De Croo. A lot of bad things can be said about the man and his ‘illiberal’ regime, and since that happens regularly in the media I won’t add anything. But what was Orbán’s first act on entering the Hungarian presidency? He went to visit Ukrainian President Zelensky and talked about a ceasefire and peace negotiations! A new outrage by the EUsceptic, because he knows full well what the EU position on the matter is: keep supplying weapons so that the Ukrainians can continue the war until Russia is defeated and Putin disposed of.

This is utterly scandalous, but don’t get me wrong: the scandal is that Orbán is the first European politician to talk about peace. The parties and politicians who espouse European ‘values’ have given him the chance to be the only one to do what needs to be done from a humanitarian, geostrategic and financial point of view: try to de-mine the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and resolve it otherwise than through mass slaughter. The Social Democrats had a good chance of playing that role, as the EU’s ‘foreign minister’ is their Josep Borrell. However, he has emerged as a minister of war. The Greens also had that chance, as they supply the foreign minister in key member state Germany. But Baerbock has become the figurehead of European militarism

There will undoubtedly be uninspired commentators who see in Orbán’s initiative proof that naive peace activists, NATO opponents, leftist ‘Putin friends’ and the extreme right are all birds of a feather. More absurdities have already emerged from ‘right-thinking’ circles.