European Council president Charles Michel has abandoned plans to contest a seat in the upcoming European Parliament elections in June. This comes amid suggestions that doing so could have led Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, a critic of aid to Ukraine, to replace him as EU Council chief.
Michel, previously Belgium’s prime minister, announced his intention to stand as an MEP for his home country three weeks ago. If he, as was widely expected, had been elected, he would have been required to leave his EU role before the official end of his term in late November.
This could have led to Orban assuming the position by default, had no successors been installed swiftly, as Hungary takes on the rotating presidency of the EU Council in July. Michel’s U-turn came just six days before an EU summit he will chair to discuss future funding for Ukraine convenes as Brussels seeks to bypass Orban’s veto against using the bloc’s shared budget to resupply Kiev.
In a statement on Friday, Michel said that his change of mind came after “extreme reactions” and “personal attacks” in response to his initial decision to seek election. Still, he added that he would “devote all my efforts to my current responsibilities.”
“I don’t want this decision to distract us from our mission or undermine this institution and our European project nor be misused in any way to divide the European Council, which I believe must work tirelessly for European unity,” he said in comments posted to social media.
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