Ukraine is not strengthening Europe, but weakening it and “dragging it into war“, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said during an interview with the public radio “Lajos Kossuth“ today, adding that the funds directed to Ukraine should be spent on the development of the armed forces of European countries and on equipment, the Hungarian news agency MTI reported, quoted by BTA.
Orban recalled that at the last EU summit in Brussels he received a document proposing that Ukraine be admitted to the union by 2027, which would allow it to access funds from the EU budget for 2028-2034. “This money will be taken from the Central Europeans, he warned.
Orbán noted that the referendum of the opposition party “Tisa“ showed that more than half of its followers supported Ukrainian membership, indicating a sharp internal division on the issue.
“If Ukraine were a member of the EU today, the EU would have to be at war with Russia,“ Orbán said. He added that Ukrainian membership was unthinkable because “it would destroy the Hungarian economy,“ hitting farmers particularly hard.
“Ukrainian goods, produced more cheaply and in greater quantities due to different regulations, would flood European markets and ruin local producers. As the closest neighbors, the Central Europeans would bear the brunt of these consequences,“ he said.