In Kyiv, a music festival returns as fans, artists and soldiers are united by the inescapable war
Associated PressJul 24
Hungary Stripped of EU Meetings Over Ukraine Peace Mission
Above: High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security and Policy Josep Borrell Fontetlles attends European Council Summit on June 29, 2023 in Brussels, Belgium. Image copyright: Pier Marco Tacca/Contributor/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, on Monday moved to rebuke Hungary over its solo attempts at finding peace in Ukraine, announcing that the next set of foreign and defense minister meetings will be held in Brussels rather than Budapest.
This comes after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, once his country assumed the rotating EU presidency earlier this month, traveled to meet the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, and China, as well as the US presidential candidate Donald Trump, in an effort to find a negotiated settlement in Ukraine.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Russia, as the aggressor in this war, violated the UN charter. Any self-styled peace mission that fails to recognize this reality is unacceptable. Hungary must be shown that it cannot violate EU treaties and its foreign policy without consequences.
Establishment-critical narrative
Continuing the pro-war hysteria by the EU, Hungary's attempts at ending the two-and-a-half-year war — with negative consequences for all — are treated as Kremlin propaganda. This is an absurd, bad faith, and immature argument.