Foreign Ministers Meet In Brussels As Hungary Snubbed

EU foreign ministers holds an informal meeting today (29 Aug) in Brussels in a notable snub to the gov't of Hungarian PM Viktor Orban. This meeting was due to take place in Budapest, but last month European Commission High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell announced that a concurrent gathering of foreign ministers would take place in Brussels, effectively wresting control of the hosting duties (and agenda setting) from Hungary.

• Orban's visit to Russia earlier in 2024 and consistent objection to EU sanctions and support packages for Ukraine have left many EU contemporaries exasperated. Politico reports that a meeting of eurozone finance ministers set for 13 Sep in Budapest could also be moved to Brussels in a further blow to the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union.
• Aside from the EU-Hungary bickering, main topics of conversation between ministers will be the war in Ukraine (Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will be attending, seeking approval to use long-range weaponry against Russia), EU-Turkey relations (Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan joins for lunch), the situation in the Middle East, and post-election tensions in Venezuela.
• Earlier Borrell said he has started the process to ask member states if they want to impose sanctions on 'some Israeli ministers'. Follows the Israeli military action in theWest Bank and the ministers in question being hardline ultranationalists Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Itamar Ben Gvir. With unanimity needed chances of passage are slim, but the fact sanctions are being discussed is a notable development.