Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a press conference in Copenhagen after the 7th summit of the European Political Community that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blocked Ukraine's European integration process because of the election campaign in his country, reports „Ukrinform“, reports News.bg.
„As for blocking our rapprochement with the European Union, no one can stop it, because this is the will of Ukraine and the decision of Europe to see our country as part of the EU in the future. But, of course, everything depends on unity and joint decisions. We have problems with Hungary and we can talk about it openly because Viktor Orban has elections,” Zelensky stressed.
He recalled that Russia started the war precisely because of Ukraine’s aspiration for EU membership. “Russia started the war because of our will and choice to move towards Europe, because we share the same values as other European countries,” the president said.
Hungary uses the unanimity principle in decision-making in the EU and has blocked the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the Union. However, according to European officials quoted by the Financial Times on September 30, Brussels is considering starting technical work on membership negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, regardless of Hungary’s position.
Kiev applied for EU membership in 2022, shortly after the full-scale Russian invasion, and Moldova followed suit. The negotiations officially started last year, but Budapest has blocked further steps – the opening of negotiation clusters to align the candidates' legislation with EU rules.