EU president to stay in post amid fears of Viktor Orbán getting role
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has abandoned plans to quit the position early amid fears it could have led to Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, getting the role.
His decision comes six days before a crunch meeting of EU leaders at which Orbán is expected to once again block a €50bn support package for Ukraine.
EU leaders are considering triggering a mechanism that would strip Hungary of voting rights.
Three weeks ago Michel announced he would be standing to become an MEP in Belgium, where he once was prime minister.
In a statement posted to Facebook on Friday he said he had second thoughts after being subjected “intense media attention” and some “extreme reactions” from outside the European institution.
His decision had prompted speculation that Orbán could accidentally become the president from July if member states were not able to find a successor quickly enough.
Under normal circumstances the leaders of the main EU institutions are decided after the European elections in June.
The process can take many months and under the EU treaty rules the country that holds the six-month rotating presidency takes on post in the absence of a president-elect.
With Hungary due to take on the presidency for the second six months of the year, this would have handed Orbán the reins.
“I don’t want this decision to distract us from our mission or undermine this institution and our European project nor be misused in any way to divide the European Council,” Michel said.
The president’s role involves chairing European Council meetings and brokering agreements among member states including the current battle to get Hungary to back the support package for Ukraine.
On Friday sources with knowledge of these negotiations said Orbán looked as if he would block the funds again
next Thursday when an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders will take place to discuss the matter that was shelved after the Hungarian prime minister refused to support the financial package for Kyiv at their last summit in December. Sources say the patience of member states is being tested to breaking point and, unless there is a breakthrough in the next six days, the other 26 member states may move to strip Hungary of voting rights altogether.
Diplomatic sources say EU leaders feel they have to end what they see as “blackmail”.
“They think if they go along with
Orbán this time, it will happen again, next time it could be migration, interest rates … it’s about survival.”
“The level of frustration is much higher than December,” said a diplomat.
Article 7 of the EU treaty allows member states to block another from voting but a month ago it was considered “last resort” and not a viable option.
But insiders say this is now looking like a reality unless they can change Orbán’s mind in next six days.
It is understood Michel has made 13 calls to leaders including Orbán in the past two days with aides also travelling to Budapest to try to persuade the Hungarian leader to align with his fellow EU member states.
• This copy was amended on 26 January to correct Charles Michel’s title. He is president of the European Council, we had previously said he was president of the European parliament
doesn’t need to be,” he said, citing Hungarian government decisions such as blocking EU financing for Ukraine, holding talks with Vladimir Putin and resisting efforts to diversify away from Russian energy as “worrying signs”.
While Hungary is formally an ally of the US, Orbán has listed the US president, Joe Biden, as one of his opponents and senior Hungarian officials have accused Washington of meddling in Hungarian politics. Government-controlled media routinely run anti-American content, including conspiracy theories about US foreign policy.
“The bilateral relationship between the US and Hungary is extremely difficult,” the ambassador said.
Pressman also described the Hungarian government’s foreign policy as a “fantasy”.
“The Hungarians have this idea that it’s a political communications device where they’re constantly talking about imperialists and colonialists and Brussels and George Soros – and all of these entities who are trying to ‘interfere’ in its domestic politics – and it’s really a fantasy,” he said. “And it’s a fantasy that is serving some political purpose in this country, but is also distracting from some of the real challenges and opportunities that Hungary has.
“And part of that fantasy involves waiting out other governments – so whether it’s wishing to see a different leadership in the European Commission or different leadership in the United States of America or different leaders in any country around Europe. It’s not a foreign policy, it’s a foreign fantasy,” he added.
The ambassador emphasised that he believed Hungary’s attempt to wait for other governments to change meant it was not addressing today’s issues.
“I think everyone would be wellserved getting out of the rhetorical and into the more pragmatic,” he said.
The ambassador, a human rights lawyer, also expressed concern about the state of Hungarian democracy.
“I have seen firsthand the intense effort to intimidate judges in this country,” he said.
Speaking of Hungary’s new sovereignty protection office, which has broad powers to investigate Hungarians with no judicial oversight, Pressman said it represented “a serious step backwards in Hungary’s democracy”.
Pressman, a high-profile diplomat who arrived in Budapest in 2022, is criticised almost daily in government-controlled Hungarian media outlets, to the point that Hungary’s main pro-government daily keeps a link to his name at the top of its site, with more than 200 articles tagged.
Asked if he was bothered by the attention, Pressman said no but added that “what bothers me is that the state of the US-Hungary relationship is in the place that it is”.
“What we really need to do at this moment in this relationship is work on it – and certainly the United States is prepared to do that. But I can tell you, there’s no indication that the Hungarian government is interested in doing that – and that’s unfortunate,” he said.