Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a radio interview that admitting Ukraine to the European Union would mean an “immediate war with Russia.” “If one member of the European Union is at war, then inevitably the others are drawn into it as well,” he said.
“Ukraine’s membership in the European Union would mean admitting a country that is at war with Russia. If one member of the European Union is at war, then inevitably the others are drawn into it as well. Ukraine’s membership in the community would mean an immediate war with Russia. And even if there were peace at a given moment, it would still involve a lasting risk of war,” Orbán stated.
This is another statement by the Hungarian prime minister in which he assesses the prospect of Ukraine joining the European Union negatively. At the end of January, Orbán posted on social media, criticizing the Ukrainian authorities and declaring that Budapest would not agree to Kyiv’s accession to the bloc and would not take steps that would help Ukraine.
“Ukrainian authorities have crossed the line. We were not looking for conflict, but for several days Hungary has been in the crosshairs. However, neither threats from the president, nor from the foreign minister, nor from extremist military groups will stop us from defending the interests of Hungarians. (…) We will not send money to Ukraine—it is better for it to go to Hungarian families than into the bathroom of a Ukrainian oligarch. We will not allow a ban on imports of Russian oil and gas—without them there can be no reduction in utility costs and no affordable energy for Hungarian families. We also will not allow Ukraine to be pushed into the European Union within two years in violation of EU law—this would also mean importing war,” he wrote.
