Ukraine is “in no way ready” to join the EU, says Hungary’s PM Viktor Orbán.
Orban’s reluctance to see Ukraine quickly join the European Union contrasts with the view of European Council President Charles Michel, who says it could be a member as early as 2030.
“The clear Hungarian position is that negotiations should not start,” says Orban in a radio interview.
Ukraine is violating the rights of the Hungarian minority in the country, he claims.
❗️@PM_ViktorOrban at Kossuth Radio: Brussels' leadership is straying from the EU's core goals of peace and prosperity, with issues like war, economic struggles, and poor decisions on migration and Ukraine. They're serving global elites, not European citizens. Urgent reform is… pic.twitter.com/dL3jUdPb1e
— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) November 10, 2023
Brussels is making decisions “so bad that we are all suffering the consequences”, including about Ukraine, the Prime Minister added.
The EU was created “to bring peace and prosperity”. However, “today, there is war in Europe” and “we are lagging behind in the race to join the great economic blocs of the world, China, Asia, and the US”, Orban states.
“So when we see the bureaucrats in Brussels in the media”, Orban says, “do not let any Hungarian think that they are the ones we put there and that they are serving our interests.”
Hungarians want “a well-planned green transition, not one that destroys their industries”.
They “don’t want migration, they don’t want war, and they don’t want unrest”, he says.
Orban believes the EU is captured by a globalist elites and by financial institutions, and the EU’s decisions are motivated by these groups’ interests.
This should change and Brussels should serve the interests of the people, he says.
On X, the former Twitter, German MEP Daniel Freund, a member of Alliance 90/The Greens, calls Orban’s statements “disgusting”.
Hungary will block the start of negotiations between Ukraine and the EU regarding EU accession until Hungarian demands concerning the language of education are met, stated the political director of Hungary's Prime Minister Orban. pic.twitter.com/PNwqY0stmm
— Maria Drutska 🇺🇦 (@maria_drutska) November 7, 2023
Orban’s opposition to Ukraine’s ambitions currently extends to preventing the EU from giving Ukraine €50 billion in aid.
Any financial assistance to Ukraine should be separate from the EU budget, says Zoltan Kovacs, a spokesman for the Hungarian government.
Brussels is said to be working on a means to circumvent the Hungarian veto.
The EU is reportedly preparing to ask each member state to draw up its own aid package with Kyiv, giving a comparable total amount of money.
