Budapest has every right to oppose Kiev\u2019s entry into the bloc, the Hungarian prime minister has said<\/p>\n
The EU will be directly dragged into the conflict between Russia and Ukraine if it grants Kiev membership of the bloc, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned.
\nUkraine\u2019s Vladimir Zelensky claimed in an interview with the Euronews\u2019 Enlargement Summit on Tuesday that \u201cOrban has to offer something for Ukraine, which is protecting the whole Europe from Russia, and even now, during this war, we did not get any support from him.\u201d
\nThe Ukrainian leader also claimed that Hungary is providing \u201cvery specific support\u201d for Russia by blocking Kiev\u2019s potential entry to the bloc.
\nOrban fired back in a post on X several hours later, insisting that Hungary \u201cwill not support Ukraine\u2019s membership in the European Union, because it would bring the war into Europe and take the money of Hungarians out to Ukraine.\u201d
\nHe noted that a unanimous decision by all 27 EU nations is needed to add another country to the bloc, meaning that \u201cevery member state has the sovereign right to support or oppose the admission of a new member.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Zelensky \u2018divorced from reality\u2019 \u2013 Russian MOD<\/p>\n
\u201cI must reject the suggestion that Hungary owes Ukraine anything. Ukraine does not defend Hungary from anyone or anything. We did not ask for such a thing, and we never will,\u201d Orban wrote.
\nHe stressed that Budapest\u2019s security is assured by its own military and NATO, of which \u201cUkraine is (fortunately) not a member.\u201d
\nUnlike most other EU nations, Hungary has taken a neutral stance on the Ukraine conflict, refusing to supply military aid to Kiev and calling for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
\nAt the same time, it has provided \u20ac200 million ($230 million) in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, Orban noted. \u201cIt is unfortunate if this means nothing to\u2026 Zelensky,\u201d he added.
\nKiev was granted EU candidate status a few months after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Zelensky has repeatedly called upon the bloc to accelerate accession talks since then.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Zelensky tours neo-Nazi units (VIDEOS)<\/p>\n
Budapest said last summer that it would veto the Ukrainian bid to enter the EU. Hungary held a referendum on the issue in June, in which 95% of voters opposed Kiev\u2019s potential membership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Budapest has every right to oppose Kiev\u2019s entry into the bloc, the Hungarian prime minister has said The EU will be directly dragged into the conflict between Russia and Ukraine…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t