Ukraine’s accession to the European Union would bring war to the bloc, Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó, has said, stressing that Ukraine will be unfit for the bloc’s membership until peace can be established in this country.
In response to the European Commission’s new enlargement package, the Minister said that the analysis was correct in concluding that Kyiv failed to meet the conditions for EU candidate status, highlighting its violations of national minority rights, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Since even the European Commission says that Ukraine has failed to meet the conditions for candidate status, we don’t consider any additional steps to be timely when it comes to accession talks with Ukraine.
According to him, the government of Hungary believes that it is time for a debate on the EU’s future policy on Ukraine, stressing that with the ongoing war in this country, it is clear that neither media freedom nor freedom of speech is applied in this country, adding that elections are not being held either, a report from About Hungary notes.
It would obviously be absurd for European Union institutions or member states to take a stance on how the institutions of the rule of law function in Ukraine under these circumstances.
He believes enlargement should serve the expansion of peace instead of bringing war into the EU. He said that Hungary doesn’t consider any progress in Kyiv’s accession talks to be timely at the moment.
In addition to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Prime Minister of Hungary, also said recently that he does not support moving forward negotiations on Ukraine’s future membership in the bloc, indicating that Hungary could pose a significant obstacle in Ukraine’s accession to the bloc.
A way, according to Minister Szijjártó, to make the bloc stronger is to admit more member states, stressing that the bloc should start with Western Balkans.
He noted that this process has gone unfinished for twenty years. Szijjártó considered that the Western Balkans clearly have a place in the bloc, stressing that their accession would bring new momentum and energy to the bloc.
Recently, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, hailed the recommendation by the European Union’s executive to initiate membership talks with Ukraine once it meets all the needed conditions, referring to it as a historic step.
On November 8 this year, the European Commission adopted the 2023 Enlargement Package recommending the Council to open accession negotiations with Ukraine.
On February 28, 2022, soon after Russia’s invasion, Kyiv applied for membership in the EU, with President Zelenskyy requesting immediate admission under a new special procedure.