European Council President meets with Macron, Scholz before EU summit with Orban - Politico
Kyiv • UNN
European Council President Charles Michel will meet with the leaders of several EU member states, Macron, Scholz and Orban, to make progress on Ukraine, ahead of the EU summit in Brussels.
European Council President Charles Michel will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban "to try to find a way forward" in the morning before the EU summit, where Budapest's position is seen as a major potential obstacle to decisions on Ukraine. This was reported by Politico, according to UNN.
"To try to find a way to unblock defense funding for Ukraine," the publication writes.
The European Council will start today in Brussels only at 10:30 a.m. local time, a European Council spokesman said, to allow room for bilateral talks ahead of the meeting.
The breakfast will follow a meeting last night in which Michel met with Macron, Scholz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to discuss a common line.
Addendum
During today's meeting of EU leaders, all eyes will be on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who threatened to disrupt the summit before the leaders met. In two letters to European Council President Charles Michel and in public comments, Orban expressed his opposition to the expected decisions on a €50 billion long-term aid package for Ukraine, as well as to opening the door to future EU membership.
This is not the first time Hungary has threatened to undermine EU unity in support of Ukraine. In particular, Orban has regularly used his veto power to secure concessions for Budapest - such as an exemption from Russian oil imports - but has never prevented a deal from being concluded. This time around, Orban has more ideological objections, the newspaper points out. The Hungarian prime minister said he wants a strategic debate on the EU's policy towards Ukraine and calls for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
