Justice Min. heading to meeting in Budapest against wishes of parliamentary majority

Minister David van Weel (Justice and Safety) has arrived in Budapest for an informal meeting with his EU counterparts against the wishes of a majority in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, including his own party, the VVD. He told ANP he is not planning on coming back yet. "I am here in the interests of the Netherlands."

The agenda for the informal council contains many subjects that are important for the Netherlands, said Van Weel from Budapest. This consists of subjects like migration, subversive crime, and strengthening resilience. "These are cross-border topics. The Netherlands needs its neighboring countries for this. On behalf of the Netherlands, I will provide direction to the strategic discussion that will be held about this tomorrow."

The European Commission announced a boycott last week of informal ministerial meetings organized by Hungary as the rotating EU president. For the time being, only civil servants and no European commissioners will attend these meetings. The reason for this unusual step is the 'peace mission' for Ukraine that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán recently undertook on his own initiative.

This mission brought Orban to Moscow, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also spoke to the Republican presidential candidate in the United States, Donald Trump, but not with current president Joe Biden.

Several EU leaders felt the need to emphasize that Orban was not speaking for the EU in these meetings. Prime Minister Dick Schoof and Minister Casper Veldkamp of Foreign Affairs were among the politicians to brief this. But when the European Commission decided to ignore meetings in Hungary, the Netherlands did not go along with it.

This resulted in criticism of the Cabinet from the coalition parties VVD and NSC. They think that the Netherlands should follow the actions of the European Commission. GroenLinks-PvdA, D66, CDA, Partij voor de Dieren, and Volt have now also joined the VVD and NSC in this position. This means that a large majority of the Tweede Kamer felt that Van Weel should have stayed home.

Van Weel will repeat the Dutch criticism of Orbán's solo performance. He does not have any mandate from the European Union for the 'peace mission' that the Hungarian Prime Minister has started, says Van Weel. "I will convey that critical message again in Budapest."