A meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Budapest next month could be canceled over mounting anger at Hungary's love-in with Russia, POLITICO reports.
The head of the gathering, Irish Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe, will decide by next week whether or not it will go ahead, two EU officials granted anonymity to discuss ongoing talks told POLITICO.
At the moment, the meeting, scheduled for Sept. 13, is still officially taking place, a spokesperson for the Eurogroup said. But one of the officials said intense capital-to-capital contact was taking place to assess how many ministers were considering boycotting irrespective of Donohoe's decision.
Talks between finance ministers generally take place once a month ― but twice a year in the country that holds the rotating presidency of the EU.
Several ministers have already signaled that they will not attend the meeting even if it goes ahead in Hungary, including German Finance Minister Christian Lindner and his counterparts from Estonia, Finland and Lithuania.
In July, several countries boycotted ministerial meetings in Budapest in retaliation against Orbán’s visits.
The European Commission has said its top officials will not participate in any of the meetings during Hungary’s six-month presidency, which runs until the end of the year, sparking indignation from Budapest.
