Politico: Michel to cut short visit to China amid Orban's Ukraine demands ahead of EU summit

European Council President Charles Michel will cut short his trip to Beijing, according to an EU official, as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban threatens to disrupt the EU leaders' summit at the end of the year, which is scheduled to address important issues regarding Ukraine, UNN reports citing Politico.

Details

Michel, who is traveling to China for the first in-person EU-China summit since 2019, "will return to Brussels to continue talks with leaders on the way forward," an official told the publication.

Michel will now return earlier from the Chinese capital - after the first day of meetings on Thursday - "partly because he does not have a secure phone line in Beijing to talk to EU leaders without being tapped by China," the official said.

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

Addendum

Michel himself met with Orban in Budapest last week in an effort to ease tensions ahead of the EU leaders' summit. Afterward, Michel emphasized the importance of "EU unity," which he said "requires constant efforts and is our main strength."

In a letter dated December 4, obtained by the publication, Orban urged Michel to remove Ukraine's accession talks from the agenda of the upcoming European Council summit. "I respectfully urge you not to invite the European Council to take a decision on these issues in December, as the obvious lack of consensus will inevitably lead to failure," Orban wrote.

The Hungarian leader has been strongly opposed to the start of accession talks with Ukraine since the European Commission approved the start of membership negotiations in November, and has threatened to veto a planned 50 billion euros in aid to Ukraine.