The Hungarian people, not the Ukrainian president, will decide whether Ukraine joins the EU, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said during a public discussion, the MTI news agency reported, quoted by BTA.
Szijjártó expressed this position to participants in the forum in the southern Hungarian city of Pécs in connection with Zelensky's recent suggestion that most Hungarians would probably support Ukraine's bid to join the EU.
"Not the president of Ukraine, but the Hungarian people will make the decision..." Szijjártó said. He noted that the opposition party Tisza supports Ukraine's candidacy, as it is "a member of the most pro-Ukrainian party group in the EP - the European People's Party".
According to the minister, Brussels wants to speed up the accession process of Ukraine, and this would mean "tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian workers" flooding the Hungarian labor market, and "the Ukrainian mafia could use Hungary as a gateway".
Szijjártó also pointed out that Hungarians can "prevent this" by voting in the upcoming referendum on this issue. Whatever position the Hungarians take, "we will present it", Szijjártó added.
The minister said in response to a journalist's question about a possible US withdrawal from the peace talks in Ukraine that this would be "bad news". "But there is no such thing for now", Szijjártó added. "I understand that (the US) wants to give the warring parties more space for negotiations, but I hope that we can count on their help in the future, in the coming days, weeks and months", the Hungarian minister concluded.