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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán broke away from a cabinet meeting in Budapest to host EU Council President António Costa on Wednesday, but neither revealed details of the substance of their discussion.
“During a break in today’s Cabinet meeting, I discussed the challenges facing the European Union with Antonio Costa,” Orbán wrote subsequently in a post on X.
Costa similarly posted on X, stating that he had a very useful exchange “focused on Europe’s priorities and on how to build unity to achieve them”.
After the meeting, the leaders held no press conference and issued no statements. Euronews has reached out to the press team of Costa and Orbán, but no further details were given.
Hungary blocks EU unity in many areas
The EU is at odds with Hungary on several issues, primarily regarding its support for Ukraine. Hungary has regularly opposed financial or military support to Kyiv, calling instead for diplomatic efforts and peace talks.
Hungary blocked the disbursal of the European Peace Facility to Ukraine, worth €6.6 billion, and also vetoed the start of the accession talks with Ukraine.
Orbán believes Ukraine’s EU accession would be an economic disaster for Europe and for Hungary.
The EU has issued several statements on Ukraine on behalf of the “EU 26”, without Hungary. Budapest did not condemn the Russian air strike on Kyiv in late August and declined to sign a statement in support of Ukraine ahead of the US-Russia summit in Alaska.
The EU and Hungary are also at odds over rule of law issues. Currently, most of Hungary’s EU funds are suspended because of alleged corruption and rule of law concerns.
Orbán met Costa last met bilaterally in February. The current European tour of Costa is a part of European diplomacy ahead of the two major European summits in October.
