The President of the European Council will short his visit to China

European Council President Charles Michel will cut short his visit to China amid fears Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán could disrupt a summit of EU leaders in late December.

This was reported to Politico by an official representative of the EU.

According to an EU official, Charles Michel will return to Brussels to continue discussions with leaders on further action.

The newspaper recalled that the Hungarian prime minister categorically opposed the start of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU after the European Commission approved the start of membership negotiations in November, and threatened to veto the planned aid to Ukraine for 50 billion euros.

Michel will return from the Chinese capital earlier - after the first day of meetings on Thursday. That will come in part because he does not have a secure phone line in Beijing to hold talks with EU leaders without being eavesdropped by China, the official said.

Michel met with Orbán in Budapest last week in an attempt to defuse tensions ahead of a summit of EU leaders.

French President Emmanuel Macron has also invited Orbán to meet with him in Paris later this week to try to reach a compromise, another official told Politico.

Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 06/12/2023