Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has big questions about the start of accession negotiations between the European Union and Ukraine. “Ukraine is in no way capable of negotiating this matter,” he told Hungarian public radio.
The European Commission had recommended that EU member states give the green light to accession negotiations with Ukraine, but according to Orban, the country is “still far” from membership. In December, leaders of the 27 member states will discuss the issue at a summit in Brussels. They must decide unanimously.
Orban also stressed that his position on accession negotiations with Kiev is not linked to Hungary’s frozen funds. In total, the European Union decided to freeze nearly 30 billion euros to Budapest because the Orban government is working to undermine the principles of the rule of law and European values.
50 billion euros
“The start of negotiations with Ukraine cannot become the subject of an agreement,” Orban said. According to the right-wing populist prime minister, this also applies to the European plan to provide Ukraine with financial support worth 50 billion euros until 2027. “The EU must give Hungary what it owes,” he said.
Although Hungary has agreed to a wide range of EU sanctions against Russia, Orban regularly clashes with European policy. For example, he still blocks the issuance of a new envelope to fund arms shipments to the Ukrainian army, and a few weeks ago he was the first EU leader since the invasion to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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