2023-11-22 21:57:00
Photo: AFP.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán threatened this Wednesday to veto any decision on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union (EU), as well as military and financial support for Kiev at the next leaders’ summit in December if the European bloc does not maintains a “frank and open” debate on its strategy towards Kiev and is open to making adjustments to its policy.
In a letter addressed to the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, to which the Europa Press news agency had access, the Hungarian far-right leader questions whether the European strategy against the Russian invasion of Ukraine is working in view of the stagnation on the battlefield and the limited achievements of the Ukrainian Army’s counteroffensive to retake occupied territory.
Hungary assures that until the strategic debate on the viability of maintaining the current policy towards Ukraine takes place, the European Council “is not in a position to adopt key measures” such as security commitments, financial support of 50 billion euros until 2027, a new round of European sanctions against Moscow or “agreeing on the future of the accession process.”
According to Orbán, the evolution of the war in Ukraine, as well as “the global, economic, political and security context, forces us to open a period of reflection and a potential readjustment of our objectives and instruments.”
The summit of heads of state and government that will take place on December 14 and 15 in Brussels is called to mark the next steps in Ukraine’s accession to the EU, with the favorable report from the European Commission to open access negotiations already in 2024, as well as agreeing on a long-term financial support plan.
Ukraine submitted its application to join the EU just five days after the start of Russia’s offensive against its territory, in February 2022, and in June it was officially recognized as a candidate to join the bloc.
The accession process, however, takes several years – sometimes up to a decade – of complex negotiations between the aspiring countries and the EU institutions in Brussels.
The Hungarian Prime Minister called to “reconcile” kyiv’s “ambitious” community aspirations with European “strategic interests” and the “political and economic reality” of the EU and Ukraine
According to Orbán, the evolution of the war in Ukraine, as well as “the global, economic, political and security context, forces us to open a period of reflection and a potential readjustment of our objectives and instruments.”
In his opinion, it is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the policy of support for Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia and the impact on European economies, as well as review the volume of military and economic aid, as well as its “impact” and “solutions to challenges in this process such as widespread systematic corruption” in Ukraine.
Regarding Ukraine’s entry into the EU, an issue that Budapest has been threatening to veto, alleging abuses against the Hungarian minority in the Ukrainian region of Transcarpathia, the Hungarian prime minister called to “reconcile” Kiev’s “ambitious” community aspirations with the European “strategic interests” and the “political and economic reality” of the EU and Ukraine.
Regularly accused by his Western partners of authoritarianism, Orbán has numerous conflicts with the EU, from issues related to migration to the rights of LGBT+ people.
Hungary already maintained a similar position last year when it blocked aid of 18 billion euros for Ukraine until the December summit, a scenario in which it managed to get the leaders of the Twenty-Seven to reduce part of the funds frozen by Brussels.
Regularly accused by his Western partners of authoritarianism, Orbán has numerous conflicts with the EU, from issues related to migration to the rights of LGBT+ people, to the independence of the judiciary.
Last year, the EU froze the disbursement of billions of euros destined for Hungary due to suspicions of corruption by its government.
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