The meeting of finance ministers from the euro zone in Budapest next month may be canceled due to growing anger against Hungary's relations with Russia, writes the European edition of Politico, quoted by Focus.
The head of the meeting, Irish Public Expenditure Minister Pascal Donohue, will decide by next week whether it will take place or not, two EU representatives told European media.
At the moment, the meeting scheduled for September 13 will still take place officially, a spokesman for the Eurogroup said. But one official said intensive contact was taking place between individual member states to gauge how many ministers were considering boycotting the meeting regardless of Donahoe's decision.
Conversations between finance ministers are generally held once a month - but twice a year in the country that holds the rotating presidency of the EU.
Soon after Hungary took over in July, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited Kiev, Moscow, Beijing and Washington on self-proclaimed "peace missions". "He claims to represent the EU without being authorized to do so," writes the Brussels media. A preparatory meeting with senior government officials is scheduled for September 5 and 6. It is unusual that at the moment on the website of the Council of the EU
information about the Eurogroup.
Several ministers have already signaled that they will not attend the meeting even if it is held in Hungary, including German Finance Minister Christian Lindner and his counterparts from Estonia, Finland and Lithuania.
In July, several countries boycotted ministerial meetings in Budapest in response to Orban's visits.
The European Commission said its senior officials would not take part in any of the meetings during Hungary's six-month presidency, which runs until the end of the year, angering Budapest.
During a public meeting of EU finance ministers in July, several ministers criticized Orbán for meeting with Putin and not prioritizing aid to Ukraine.
Several ministerial meetings are planned before the Eurogroup meeting. Meetings of EU foreign and defense ministers will be held this week in Brussels instead of Budapest.
Donohoe is likely to gauge the mood at the Brussels talks before deciding whether to call them off, one of Politico's sources concluded.