Honeymoon’s over
That’s to not say they didn’t discover some frequent floor. A couple of voiced optimism concerning the EU’s probabilities of discovering consensus with out the pugnacious Hungarian premier.
“For the primary time in years there are not any Russians within the room,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted on social media, alluding to Orbán’s closeness to President Vladimir Putin. “Big aid.”
Michal, the Estonian prime minister, instructed POLITICO that with out Orbán within the room, leaders have been going by means of a honeymoon interval.
“You possibly can really feel the constructive power,” he mentioned. “Viktor Orbán was an emblem considerably — nothing private — however the image was that he was contained in the European Union, having fun with all the pieces that’s contained in the EU … however on the identical time, combating towards the European Union.
“And now that legacy is outdoors the room, I’d say sure, you possibly can really feel it. All people’s speaking about what’s going to occur in Europe subsequent.”
What occurs subsequent will depend on whether or not leaders can recover from their variations on all the pieces from Ukraine’s membership to the bloc’s funds. As an “casual” gathering of leaders, EU jargon for a gathering with out a collective assertion on the finish, the two-day talks in Cyprus have been by no means going to be a summit the place massive selections bought made.
