Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said it is a “colossal delusion“ to believe that Ukraine is ready to join the European Union, Hungarian news agency MTI reported, BTA reports.
In a statement to public radio, Orban disputed the claims of European leaders that Ukraine has fulfilled the membership criteria, including in the areas of fighting corruption, the rule of law and protecting human rights. According to him, such an assessment is “far from reality“, especially for countries that border Ukraine and have a more direct view of the situation.
The Hungarian PM criticized the approach according to which membership negotiations are treated as a formality, and set expectations for Ukraine's eventual accession by 2030. as unrealistic. He added that such a fallacy may be acceptable in Brussels, but not in the region, where the effects of conflict and instability are felt more tangibly.
Orban's statement comes against the backdrop of the EU's ongoing efforts to demonstrate political and economic support for Ukraine in the context of the Russian invasion.