But that was before U.S. President Donald Trump amped up his efforts to take control of Greenland from Denmark and launched a new round of talks with both Russia and Ukraine. An informal summit in Copenhagen last year ended with a number of planned issues left unresolved because of time constraints, with diplomats and officials keen to ensure that does not happen this time.
Ambassadors used their meeting with Lourtie to say the agenda would need to give their leaders sufficient space to debrief on transatlantic relations and the threat from Moscow.
“There was broad support from a large number of countries saying that there needs to be adequate time for the discussion of the big geopolitical issues that leaders will also want to talk about,” said one of the diplomats, granted anonymity to speak freely about the closed-door talks. “That will need to happen to make sure we can also talk about the important issue of competitiveness.”
Global issues “may demand leaders’ attention” and Costa will ensure there’s enough time for that discussion, a Council official said.
Hungary was skeptical about the move, the diplomats said. Budapest has refused to join other capitals in condemning Trump’s efforts to take control of Greenland from Denmark, and pursued closer relations with both China and Russia.
The competitiveness debate is expected to include two elements: external threats including unpredictable trade barriers imposed by the U.S. and Beijing’s hostile trade policies, and internal threats like energy prices and red tape for industry. Hungary wants to focus primarily on the second point, the diplomats said.
Victor Jack contributed to this report.