Tired of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s constant obstructionism on the Ukraine issue, his fellow EU leaders plan to temper his fervour by giving the country a weak portfolio in the next European Commission, three diplomats familiar with the discussions told POLITICO.
Hungary wants to keep its post on EU enlargement, which has considerable influence because of EU negotiations over Ukraine’s accession to the bloc, but national governments do not want Budapest’s current commissioner Oliver Varhelyi (or any other Hungarian) to continue to play such an important role, the three diplomats said.
There could hardly be “even a question” of Hungary being allowed to retain control of any powerful briefing, said one envoy, who, like the others, was granted anonymity to discuss the delicate negotiations between EU countries.
The European Commission said it was up to governments and the Commission president-elect to choose the next Commissioners and it would not “prejudge their decisions”.
Orbán has in recent months attempted to block aid to Ukraine and jeopardised its EU accession talks. Budapest will also take over the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in July, giving it the power to set the agenda.
Varhelyi remains in his post
Still, Hungarians hope Varhelyi will remain in his post, which he has held since 2019 after being nominated by Orbán and leading the bloc’s efforts to attract new members.
However, Varhelyi has been accused of undermining policies towards EU candidate countries, creating confusion in a recent standoff with Georgia over the South Caucasus country’s widely condemned “foreign agents” law, which many see as a way for Tbilisi’s ruling party to clamp down on opposition media, activists and NGOs.
Budapest has already tried to introduce its own version of “Russian-style rules”, but has met resistance from Brussels and European legal institutions. The same envoy said:
“After the disaster this time round with Varhelyi and the way Orbán is taking on [Commission President Ursula] von der Leyen, there is no way she will hand over anything important [to] someone close to him.”
Neither Varhelyi’s office nor the Hungarian Foreign Ministry responded to a request for comment.
EU accession talks
A fourth diplomat earlier expressed concern about Varhelyi’s role in the EU accession talks, given that Hungary has openly opposed Ukraine’s membership. The envoy told POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook:
“That’s what we get for putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.”
Varhelyi’s appointment five years ago was seen as a peace proposal designed to keep Hungary’s right-wing government on the side of Brussels, similar to the way the increasingly Eurosceptic UK was handed a major economic role ahead of Brexit in 2014 after Conservative leader David Cameron promised a referendum in 2013.
Earlier this week, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis called on Hungary to stop delaying a multimillion-euro military package to Kyiv. A few days earlier, Landsbergis told POLITICO that Budapest was behind Europe’s failure to present a coherent position on the war in Gaza and the military conflict in Ukraine. He said:
“Almost all of our discussions and needed solutions and decisions by [the] EU are being blocked by just one country.”
