Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has major questions about the opening of accession negotiations between the European Union and Ukraine. “Ukraine is in no way capable of negotiating this,” he told the Hungarian public broadcaster.
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 light years” away from membership. In December, the leaders of the 27 member states will discuss the issue at a summit in Brussels. They must decide unanimously.
Orban also assured that his position on accession negotiations with Kiev is not linked to the blocked funds for Hungary. All in all, the EU is freezing almost 30 billion euros for Budapest because Orban’s government is undermining the principles of the rule of law and European values.
50 billion euros
“The opening of negotiations with Ukraine cannot become the subject of a deal,” Orban said. According to the right-wing populist prime minister, this also applies to the European plan to provide Ukraine with 50 billion euros in financial support until 2027. “The EU must give Hungary what it owes,” it said.
Although Hungary has co-approved a wide range of EU sanctions against Russia, Orban regularly goes against European policy. For example, he is still blocking the release of a new envelope to finance arms deliveries to the Ukrainian army and a few weeks ago he was the first EU leader since the invasion to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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Tags: Orban Ukraine ready accession negotiations War Ukraine Russia
