Hungary accuses EU Commission of cherry picking for downgrading meeting attendance

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Hungary on Monday accused the EU Commission of cherry picking after it said it would not send its commissioners to informal meetings organised by the Hungarian EU presidency, effectively downgrading the EU executive body's participation.

The move comes after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump last week and earlier made surprise visits to Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing on a self-styled "peace mission", sparking criticism among EU member states.

Hungary will hold the rotating EU presidency for six months until Dec. 31.

"The EU is an international organisation constituted by its member states. The EU Commission is an institution of the EU," said Hungarian Minister for European Affairs Janos Boka on the social media platform X.

"The EU Commission cannot cherry pick institutions and member states it wants to cooperate with. Are all Commission decisions now based on political considerations?" he added.

A spokesperson for the European Commission had said earlier the institution would not send specialist commissioners to informal meetings organised by the Hungarian EU presidency.

"In light of recent developments marking the start of the Hungarian Presidency, the (EU Commission) President (Ursula von der Leyen) has decided that (the EU Commission) will be represented at senior civil servant level only during informal meetings of the Council", Eric Mamer, spokesman for the European Commission president, said on X.

"The College visit to the Presidency will not take place", he added.

The decision, which Mamer noted in a separate message to journalists is not limited in time, effectively downgrades the EU Commission's participation as specialist commissioners for the policy area under discussion normally attend EU ministerial meetings.

Kinga Gal, EU lawmaker and vice president of Orban's Fidesz party, said the move was part of von der Leyen's election campaign.

"We have become used to her using the EU institutions, especially against Hungary, for political blackmail and pressure," she said on X. "This is unacceptable and goes against the very essence of European cooperation."

Von der Leyen is trying to secure support from a majority of EU lawmakers in a vote on Thursday to win a second term in her role.

Last week, the Swedish government said Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden will not send ministers to government meetings linked to Hungary's EU presidency this month in a protest at Orban's talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Swedish Minister for EU Affairs Jessika Roswall said that the countries would be represented only by civil servants and that additional EU member countries were discussing similar actions.

(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout, Andrew Gray, Kate Abnett and Sabine Siebold; Editing by Sandra Maler)