The heads of some EU member states are inclined to make concessions to Hungary’s position and postpone negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the association until March 2024. This was reported by Politico.
Politico reported that some high-ranking officials and diplomats said that EU leaders were ready to react to the position put forward by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and push back the date of accession talks with Ukraine.
Earlier, Orbán’s political adviser Balázs Orbán said that Ukraine’s EU membership was a “red line” for Budapest. Hungary’s EU Affairs Minister Janos Boka said support for Kiev should not come from the EU budget, and the task of deciding on negotiations on the issue of Ukraine’s accession to the bloc should be postponed until June.
“According to senior officials and diplomats, some EU leaders appear ready to make partial concessions in front of Orban’s “red lines” and postpone the start of accession talks with Ukraine. Two sources said that the leaders may promise to start talks in March, but Orban is pushing for a longer postponement,” the newspaper wrote.
The newspaper also noted that the European government was not ready to completely isolate Orbán yet, as it was still keen to maintain political relations with Hungary. However, Politico’s sources said that everything might change after the summit in Brussels on 14-15 December, where the decision to start negotiations on Ukraine’s and Moldova’s accession to the EU will be on the agenda.
Earlier, Reuters sources said that the EU’s initiative to allocate military aid to the Kiev regime was encountering growing resistance on the part of the association’s member states. Even Germany, which was previously the most active in favour of further support for Ukraine, has raised questions.