The decision was made: Orbán was "punished"

Speaking after a ministerial meeting in Brussels, Borrell said he made the decision after most ministers said they opposed Hungary's moves after it took over the EU Council presidency on July 1, Reuters reported.

He added that there was no consensus among EU members about whether to attend the meeting, planned for 28-29 August, and the gathering of defense ministers after that.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said he proposed holding a meeting of foreign ministers in Ukraine, but Hungary voted against the proposal.

Borrell stated that most of the ministers also want Hungary to bear "symbolic" consequences after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán traveled to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of what he called a peacekeeping mission for Ukraine, without the support of other members of EU.

"We have to send a signal, even if it is a symbolic signal," Borrell told reporters in Brussels after the last meeting of EU foreign ministers before the summer break. At a meeting today, many EU foreign ministers expressed their strong condemnation of Budapest's position directly to their Hungarian counterpart, Péter Szijjártó, reports Reuters.

"This was very clear and repeated in a way that left no room for doubt," said Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel.

Borrell also believes that Budapest should mark Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "pro-war" leader, and not the European Union.

"If you want to talk about the war party, talk about Putin," he said.

At the same time, Szijjártó characterized this decision as "childish".

EU countries, including Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Denmark, as well as the European Commission, have already reduced their participation in EU ministerial meetings due to Hungary's presidency.