The European Union's foreign policy chief says next month's foreign ministers' meeting will be held in the Belgian capital of Brussels instead of Budapest, the capital of Hungary, which currently holds the rotating presidency.

Josep Borrell said after a EU foreign ministerial meeting in Brussels on Monday that he made the location change because a majority of the ministers have spoken out over Hungary's recent position on the war in Ukraine.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Russia and China after taking on the rotating presidency this month, without the consensus of other members.

Borrell said, "We have to send a signal, even if it is a symbolic signal, that being against the prime policy of the European Union" has to have some consequences.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto criticized the location shift, describing it as a "kindergarten"-level debate.

As for Hungary's diplomacy, the EU's executive body, the European Commission, has already directed members to send lower-ranking officials in place of ministers to unofficial EU meetings in the country.