Did Brussels' boycott of Hungary's meetings reshape EU diplomacy?
A look back at the EU response to Viktor Orbán's trips and Finland's new border law, as reported in mid-July 2024.
How should the European Union respond when the holder of its rotating presidency pursues its own diplomacy on Russia's invasion of Ukraine? On 16 July 2024, that question was still fresh after an announcement made the previous day.
On 15 July 2024, the European Commission said that top EU officials, including Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, would boycott informal meetings hosted by Hungary during its rotating EU Presidency. The move was a response to what was described as rogue meetings by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Russia and China concerning Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
A separate move on the Finnish border
A few days earlier, on 12 July 2024, the Parliament of Finland had passed a law allowing border guards to restrict trafficked asylum seekers from crossing the Finland–Russia border.
The measure came amid wider movement out of Russia since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Estimates published later put the total number of Russian citizens and residents who left at roughly 900,000 by early October 2022. That figure includes economic migrants, conscientious objectors and some political refugees. The same later account said more than 70% of Russian emigrants feared repression by the Russian government, and that many had returned to Russia for reasons including hostility, difficulty obtaining legal status and finding stable work.
What the two reports showed
Taken together, the reports from 12 and 15 July 2024 showed European institutions and governments responding to the consequences of the war in different ways: Brussels by scaling back its participation in events hosted by a presidency holder, and Helsinki by tightening rules at its border with Russia.
