The summit of the European Union member states in Brussels on 14-15 December may become the most “hot”. Politico columnists Barbara Moens and Nicholas Winokur wrote about it.
Barbara Moens noted that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban regularly pushes the European Union “to the edge of the abyss”. According to the journalist, European diplomats are panicking that his “hostility towards Ukraine will finally push the bloc off the cliff”.
“The looming political crisis is set to erupt at a mid-December summit when EU leaders are due to make a historic decision on Ukraine’s membership of the 27-nation club and strike a key budget deal to throw a €50 billion lifeline to Kiev’s crumbling war economy,” the columnists told Politico.
According to Nicholas Vinokur, the meeting is likely to signal to the US that despite the political distraction due to the war in the Middle East, “the EU is fully committed to Ukraine.”
“These hopes appear to be dashed because of Orban, a strong man who maintains close ties with Russian leader Vladimir Putin <…>,” the authors of the article complained.
The publicists emphasised that Orbán is giving EU leaders “a huge headache”. According to the journalists, the Hungarian prime minister can hold “the bloc hostage”, so all decisions in the European Union must be taken unanimously.
“We are heading towards a serious crisis”, – summarised the European diplomat on condition of anonymity in a commentary Politico.
Recall, earlier Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that he was proud to maintain open channels of communication with Russian Federation. The politician noted that Budapest pursues an open policy, which differs from the dominant direction in the countries of Europe.