Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has cancelled a deliberate European Parliament speech, scheduled for Wednesday (18 September), because of flooding in Hungary.
“As a result of excessive climate situations and the continued floods in Hungary, I’ve postponed all my worldwide obligations,” Orbán stated on X on Monday (16 September)
The European Parliament final week formally invited the Hungarian authorities to handle the legislature in Strasbourg. The invitation is customary, as Hungary is mid-way via its six-month stint chairing discussions among the many European Union’s 27 member states. The “presidency” of the Council of the EU, because it’s identified, rotates among the many nationwide governments.
Torrential rain throughout the previous couple of days has precipitated extreme flooding in Hungary, in addition to in Austria, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland.
On Sunday (15 September), the Hungarian authorities’s communications chief, Zoltán Kovács, posted pictures to X of Orbán visiting a few of the affected areas. The Prime Minister convened a “flood defence activity pressure” on Monday, in keeping with Kovács.
The European Parliament’s invitation is addressed to the Hungarian authorities, to not Orbán personally, so Budapest can in precept ship anybody to ship the speech. It’s not but clear, nonetheless, who that will probably be. One apparent risk is Bálint Ódor, Hungary’s EU ambassador.
[Edited by Rajnish Singh]
