POLITICO’s 2024 Backhanded Awards There has never been a more deserving set of “winners.” By EDDY WAX Illustration by Ellie Foreman-Peck for POLITICO The Ursula von der Leyen Award for Not Being Charles Michel: António Costa Charles Michel has left office with a unique legacy: He’s the only European Council president to have quit twice. … Read more
BRUSSELS ― Frédéric Bernard, the head of cabinet of former European Council President Charles Michel, is to become Belgian ambassador to the United States, according to two Belgian officials. As chief of staff and sherpa to Michel since 2020, Bernard had a key role in preparing and helping to run European Council meetings ― the … Read more
Zagreb sharply criticized the resolution at the time, warning it would damage relations between the two countries and impede Montenegro’s hopes of joining the European Union, and vowing consequences. European Council President Charles Michel canceled a trip to Podgorica in solidarity with Croatia. Mandić introduced the resolution, and Bečić and Knežević’s parties supported it, after … Read more
The visit shook up Brussels and European Union capitals, as it took place a few days after Hungary took the helm of the presidency of the Council of the EU and Orbán suggested he was representing the bloc as a whole. “The EU rotating presidency has no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of … Read more
Michel was responding to a note from Orbán featuring conclusions and suggestions based on his “peace missions,” including visiting Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Dated July 12 and viewed by Paul Ronzheimer of Axel Springer, POLITICO’s parent company, the note warned that with a “likely” Trump victory, the EU’s proportion of the financial burden of supporting … Read more
Orbán “undertook several diplomatic visits, notably to visit Putin in Russia and Xi Jinping in China, during which he intentionally misrepresented his empowerments,” the lawmakers wrote, and called on the Parliament to respond accordingly. “This requires real actions, such as suspending Hungary’s voting rights in the Council, since practice has shown that mere verbal condemnations … Read more
The EU and its leaders have largely shut down communications with Moscow amid a deluge of sanctions leveled by the bloc against Russia following the invasion. On Wednesday EU ambassadors in Brussels will discuss Orbán’s trips. “If that debrief tomorrow goes in the same tone as this letter, it will be a pleasant meeting,” a … Read more
“What I’m doing may look like a negotiation format because we sit behind a table and discuss issues, but we don’t negotiate,” he said in an interview with Hungarian state radio Friday morning. “That’s why I don’t even need a mandate because I don’t represent anything.” “I do one thing: I go to the places … Read more
The vote overshadowed a positive week for Spajić’s pro-EU centrist government. The PM described his administration as having been “really optimistic and pumped up” after overcoming a major hurdle in its EU accession talks at an intergovernmental conference in Brussels on June 26. Spajić wants to get his country into the EU by 2028 and … Read more
What are the next steps? The three main political groups’ lead negotiators are in constant talks about locking in the current top jobs package when EU leaders meet next week. Ahead of that meeting, the negotiators have penciled in a video call, two officials briefed on the negotiations said. Then the ball will be in … Read more
