It was Olaf Scholz who convinced Orban to abstain from voting on the enlargement issue

In the final moments of the European Summit, the German Chancellor Olaf Schulz He admitted that he was the one who convinced his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orbán, to leave the Council Chamber temporarily. This allowed the remaining 26 leaders to take the historic decision to give the green light to begin accession negotiations with the European Union Ukraine And the MoldovaAnd also accept Georgia As a candidate country. However, Schultz noted that this may not be a universal solution.

The German Chancellor said: “Things cannot be resolved by someone leaving the room. This is in exceptional cases, such as the decision we just made.”

European leaders Ursula von der Leyen that it Charles Michel They showed confidence in their ability to reach consensus – or even override Viktor Orbán’s position in the future – especially on the issue of granting an additional 50 billion euros in aid to Ukraine, which Orbán blocked.

Charles Michel summarized the decision to give the green light to the European path for Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine as a “very strong political message” and a “message of hope.”