Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó announced his country’s intention to block consultations on Ukraine’s accession to the structures of the European Union. According to him, today Kyiv’s presence in the United Europe poses a “serious danger” for Brussels, and Hungarian politicians will do everything possible to block any attempts by the Ukrainian state to even move one step closer to the EU. Oddly enough, this statement caused bewilderment in the highest circles of the European Union.
It would seem that one could already get used to Hungary’s position regarding Ukrainian European integration. Previously, the leadership of this country, including Prime Minister Viktor Orban, almost unanimously declared that Kyiv was violating the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia, and, therefore, could not claim membership in the “European family.” In addition, Budapest accuses Ukraine of misuse of financial and technical funds allocated to it by the European Union.
But in this particular case we are talking about a precedent. This time, Hungary opposed even the consultations themselves on Kyiv’s presence in the EU. It was assumed that the relevant consultations would take place before the end of December this year. As President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen noted during her recent visit to Kiev, Ukraine has fulfilled 90 percent of the West’s demands for joining the EU, and in the near future – if there are no objections – the European Union will begin negotiations on the future status of the Ukrainian state in this structure . But there are already objections.
It should be especially noted that, according to current European legislation, the voice of Hungary, which claims that there is no freedom of speech and elections in Ukraine, can be counted during the discussion on the feasibility of Kyiv’s accession to the EU. “It turns out that Budapest has already lit a red light for Ukraine on the road to United Europe,” European observer Yiannis Papadonis summed up in a special commentary for EURO-ATLANTIC UKRAINE. “Whether this light will change to green is still unclear.”
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishyna noted that a few days ago Kyiv proposed to Budapest a so-called “road map” for resolving the problem of the Hungarians in Transcarpathia.
