Finland, Sweden to boycott EU ministerial meetings chaired by Hungary in July - newspaper

Finland and Sweden are going to boycott EU ministerial meetings held in July under the chairmanship of Hungary in protest against the visit of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to Moscow, the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported citing sources.

Prime Ministers of Finland and Sweden Petteri Orpo and Ulf Kristersson respectively agreed on it on Wednesday, July 10. The boycott means the two countries will not send ministers to EU meetings hosted by Hungary as part of its presidency of the European Council.

The boycott will last throughout July and be applied to four ministerial meetings this month. These are meetings of the Ministers of the Environment, Ministers of Energy, Ministers of Justice, and Ministers of Employment and Social Affairs. Later, Helsinki and Stockholm "will continue to evaluate Hungary’s actions," the newspaper wrote referring to sources.

On July 5, Orban visited Moscow, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two leaders discussed possible ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and the beginning of peace negotiations. Later, the Hungarian prime minister visited Beijing, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Before he visited Russia, Orban discussed the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine with the President of that country, Vladimir Zelensky, on July 2 in Kyiv.