In a display of support for Venezuelan authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro, Hungary prevented the European Union from questioning the legitimacy of the South American country's presidential election last week.
Hungary vetoed a statement that expressed concern about alleged "flaws and irregularities" in the voting and called for greater transparency with the Venezuelan election results, Politico reported.
The EU's measure was not as strong as the United States', which has stated categorically Maduro's election is not valid, with Washington recognizing opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as Venezuela's president-elect.
Sources told Politico that EU countries wanted to adopt a joint statement about the election result announced July 29 but were prevented by Budapest.
The Hungarian Embassy did not immediate respond to calls or emails from Newsmax seeking comment.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell later issued a statement under his own name.
While aligning itself with U.S. adversaries Russia, China and Iran, Venezuela's leftist regime has long held one of the hemisphere's worst human rights records.
Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, one of Europe's leading conservatives, has moved his government solidly behind Russia, China, and Iran.
In May, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Budapest, using the visit to sign 18 bilateral agreements between the two nations.
"We are willing to take this as a new starting point to push bilateral relations and pragmatic cooperation into a golden channel and move towards a higher level," Xi said at his press conference announcing the agreements.
Last month, Orban visited Xi to discuss a potential Ukraine peace deal.
In February, Hungary's foreign minister visited Tehran and signed an economic and technical cooperation agreement with Iran as it wages war against Israel and U.S. interests.
Jewish groups, including the ZOA, strongly condemned Budapest for their Iran deal.
Hungary's decision to block the EU's legitimate criticism of Venezuela continues to anger member countries.
EU foreign policy decisions, including the imposing of sanctions, must be unanimously agreed upon by the bloc's 27 member countries.
Several countries, such as Germany, have advocated basing foreign policy decisions on a qualified majority.
Borrell issued a follow-up statement in his name on Tuesday.
"The data that the [Venezuelan] opposition has made available to the public offers a radically different result from the one announced" by the country's authorities, Borrell's second statement said.
"Until voting records are made public and are verified, the election results as already declared cannot be recognized."
Reuters contributed to this story.