2023-12-15 13:03:28
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has justified his giving in to EU accession talks for Ukraine by saying that there will be “at least 75 opportunities” to stop them before an actual accession decision is made. In his usual Friday interview on state radio, recorded for home audiences in Brussels that morning, he described it as a “bad decision” to start accession talks.
“I fought for eight hours not to do that, but I couldn’t convince them,” Orbán said. The Hungarian head of government made the decision to start accession talks possible by leaving the room beforehand and thereby refraining from exercising a veto.
He pointed out several times in his interview on Radio Kossuth that the process could still be stopped. “If the interests of the Hungarian farmers need to be protected, Hungary will pull the handbrake, there is no doubt about it.” The final decision lies with the national parliaments, including the Hungarian one. Before Orbán left for Brussels, the National Assembly in Budapest had passed a motion with the two-thirds majority of his Fidesz/KDNP coalition that Ukraine was not ready for accession talks and that such a decision should therefore not be made.
Orbán attributed the decision, which he did not block, solely to the other 26 EU members. Hungary will not bear the “financial and economic costs” of this. That would have to be done by those who made this decision. “The EU” is used to making bad decisions, Orbán said, pointing to the 2008 financial crisis, migration and the alleged decision to move “towards war and sanctions” against Russia rather than towards peace.
A comment from Nikolas Busse Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 37 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 35 Thomas Gutschker, Brussels Published/Updated: Recommendations: 26
He justified his veto against the planned 50 billion euro package for Ukraine by saying that loans would have to be taken out and that this would directly harm Hungary’s interests. Incidentally, this would serve to “continue the war”, but peace was necessary, which is why no money should be given. There is no record of the interviewer asking that the war was caused by Russian aggression, as Orbán himself had acknowledged on another occasion.
With regard to the release of a good ten billion euros to Hungary by the EU Commission, Orbán said: “Better late than never.” But it has also turned out that the Hungarian economy can also function without EU money. However, the country had met all the conditions, so it was no longer possible to postpone payment. “In the end we have to get what we deserve.”
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