Orbán has plenty more chances to play havoc with EU decision-making

Viktor Orbán: ‘I didn’t want Hungary to have that on our conscience, so I left the room.’ Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters

In the end, he folded when everybody thought he would dig in … and dug in when everybody thought he would fold. Either way, Viktor Orbán has left himself plenty of opportunities to continue playing havoc with EU decision-making.

For weeks before this week’s summit, Hungary’s illiberal, nationalist prime minister had sworn to block EU plans to open accession talks with Kyiv. Admitting Ukraine to the bloc would have huge consequences, he said. Starting the process now would be be “a terrible mistake”.