Hungary’s foreign minister has again drawn a sharp red line on Ukraine’s path to the European Union, using a visit to Belgrade to contrast Budapest’s enthusiastic support for Serbia’s accession with its categorical rejection of Kyiv’s bid.
Posting on X, Péter Szijjártó summed it up bluntly: “Yes to Serbia’s EU membership. No to Ukraine’s EU membership. This is Hungary’s position.”
In his comments after talks with Serbian foreign minister Marko Đurić, Szijjártó argued that the EU would clearly benefit from admitting Serbia, describing the country as bringing “potential, growth and development” – while accusing Brussels of deliberately dragging its feet on Belgrade’s membership perspective. At the same time, he claimed that Ukraine, “where a corruption machine operates at the highest level of government”, would only pose a danger to the bloc, even though “they still want to push it in as soon as possible”.
Budapest has for months been blocking the opening of the first cluster of accession chapters with Ukraine, despite a political decision by EU leaders to move the process forward. Hungarian officials point to several lines of argument: concerns about corruption and rule of law in Ukraine, fears of economic disruption – especially to Hungarian farmers and the wider EU agricultural market – and security and migration risks linked to admitting a country at war.
A long-running dispute over minority rights adds another layer. Hungary has repeatedly criticised Ukraine’s language legislation, in force for more than a decade, which it says restricts the rights of the Hungarian community in Zakarpattia to use their mother tongue in education and public life. Although Kyiv adopted a new law on national minorities in 2023 to address Council of Europe recommendations, Budapest insists the changes are insufficient and keeps using its veto power in Brussels to press for further concessions.
Szijjártó’s latest remarks fit squarely into the broader line pursued by Viktor Orbán’s government: presenting itself as the guardian of “peace” and national sovereignty against what it portrays as a pro-war, pro-Ukraine consensus in the EU. In recent weeks, Hungarian officials have called for an end to EU financial support for Kyiv in light of new corruption scandals, arguing that further aid undermines European taxpayers’ trust.
For Serbia, the message from Budapest is unambiguously supportive: Hungary wants its southern neighbour “inside” as quickly as possible and frames enlargement to the Western Balkans as a strategic investment in stability. For Ukraine, the message is the opposite – as long as the current government in Budapest remains in power, it signals that the start of real accession talks can be blocked indefinitely.
