Austria is attending an informal two-day EU ministerial meeting that started in Budapest on Monday, despite calls from the European Commission to boycott such gatherings in protest against Hungary’s unilateral actions regarding the war in Ukraine.

Hungary assumed the rotating European Council presidency on 1 July, with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán embarking on a self-declared “peace mission 3.0” to Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing shortly thereafter.

EU leaders have criticised Orbán’s trips, stating that they were not sanctioned by the EU. Austria’s own Foreign Minister, Alexander Schallenberg, also joined in the criticism, as reported by The International.

Read more: Foreign Minister Criticises Orbán’s ‘Peace Mission’

Despite this, Austria’s Interior Minister, Gerhard Karner is participating in the meeting for the EU’s interior and justice ministers, as confirmed by his spokesperson, Markus Haindl.

In the lead-up to the meeting, Karner had emphasised the importance of tackling illegal migration: “Cooperation with countries outside the EU is crucial in order to reduce the pressure on the EU’s external borders in connection with illegal migration. The outsourcing of asylum procedures to third countries can make a significant contribution to this,” he said.

Several EU countries, including the Baltic states, Sweden, Finland, and Poland, announced their boycott in the run-up to the meeting.