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Budapest, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The European Union announced on July 22 that the informal EU foreign ministers' and defense ministers' meeting originally scheduled to be held in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, at the end of August will be held in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Affairs Peter Szijjártó said that this was a "completely childish" act of retaliation.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Borrell said at the EU Foreign Ministers' Meeting on the 22nd that due to Hungary's position on the Ukraine issue, the EU informal foreign ministers' and defense ministers' meetings will be held in Brussels in September instead of in Budapest at the end of August.

Borrell said the Hungarian government must bear certain consequences for its position and "we should send a signal to Hungary, even if it is only symbolic."

In response, Szijjártó criticized that Hungary's recent "peace mission" aimed at mediating the Ukrainian crisis was met with "hysterical attacks" from the EU, and that these ridicules and attacks ignored reality.

Szijjártó said that the EU's Ukraine strategy had failed miserably in the past two and a half years and was getting further and further away from peace. On the issue of Ukraine, European politicians should not "bury their heads in the sand" but should change their approach and reopen diplomatic channels.

Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the European Union on the 1st of this month. Prime Minister Orban immediately launched a "peace mission" to visit Ukraine, Russia and other countries to mediate the Ukrainian crisis. This move caused divisions within the EU. (Reporter: Ding Yinghua) (End)