Viktor Orban: will use the country’s six-month presidency of of the Council of the EU in a 'political way', according to Zoltan Kovacs, Hungary’s minister of state for international communication. Photograph: John Thys/AFP via Getty Imagesby withholding billions of euro in funding over concerns about the erosion of rights and the rule of law in the country, a Hungarian government minister has said.
Concerns have been raised by EU officials and diplomats that Hungary’s control of the council presidency will mean there is little chance of further progress between now and the end of the year on Ukraine’s years-long journey to join the union, after accession talks were formally opened last month. Janos Boka, the Hungarian minister for European Union affairs, said a large number of member states were pushing for “innovative” ways to reduce migration, such as signing deals with countries outside of Europe to curb the number of asylum seekers crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
Hungary supports an “alternative” looking EU, where most of the power lies with the 27 member states and the European Commission is not a “political” animal, he said.