EU ministers take a very public swipe at Hungary over a lack of respect for the bloc’s values

Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — Senior government ministers from Ireland, Luxembourg and Belgium have taken a public and potentially embarrassing swipe at Hungary.  At a meeting in Budapest, they raised questions about whether Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s stridently nationalist cabinet respects European Union values and standards. Hungary took over the 27-nation bloc’s rotating presidency in July. Orbán immediately made a surprise trip to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, angering several of his EU counterparts. Luxembourg Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel said he intended to ask the Hungarian minister chairing Tuesday’s meeting “if tomorrow he plans a trip to Moscow, because this seems to be a habit for Hungarian politicians.”