EU leaders want Ukraine to continue its war with Russia and intend to pay for it by quickly joining the community.
This opinion was expressed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations of Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, at a meeting with the public in the city of Pilisvörösvár in connection with the referendum that has begun in the country on the issue of Ukraine's accession to the EU.
"The leaders of the European Union want Ukraine to continue the war. They have made several decisions to prolong the war and are constantly trying to make the path to peace more difficult. In exchange for pushing Ukraine towards the EU, they expect Kiev to continue the war," the MTI news agency quoted the foreign ministry chief as saying.
When asked why Hungary supported the start of EU accession talks with Ukraine three years ago, he replied: "Back then, this initiative was aimed at establishing peace, but now it is aimed at Ukraine continuing the war," the minister replied.
“When this issue was raised three years ago, this was the price of peace and we were for peace. "Now this is the price of war, but we do not support war and we do not support Ukraine's super-fast accession to the European Union," Szijjártó explained.
In recent months, the Hungarian government has repeatedly stated that Ukraine's hasty accession to the community would cause irreparable damage to Europe, as it would drag it into direct conflict with Russia, destroy its economy, including agriculture, and pose a threat to its public security. In addition, the Ukrainian authorities have not restored the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia and have not stopped actions that threaten the energy security of Central Europe.
At the Brussels summit on March 20, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán refused to support a joint statement on Ukraine that would ensure its accelerated accession to the EU. At the same time, he noted that in the future he allows the possibility of Ukraine being accepted into the community if it meets all the necessary requirements.
In June 2022, EU leaders, on the recommendation of the European Commission, granted Ukraine the status of candidate for membership, and in December 2023 decided to start negotiations with it on this issue. Brussels would like to start such negotiations this year. Hungary's decision whether to agree to their launch or block them may depend largely on the outcome of the referendum.