With the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a summit in Brussels, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s intransigent stance on opposing the continuation of financial aid to Kiev and Budapest’s desire to prevent the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union may only intensify. Politico columnist Barbara Moens wrote about this.
According to Barbara Moens, the upcoming European Union summit in Brussels is not the first test of the EU’s “unity in supporting Ukraine”. The columnist specified that Western sanctions pressure against Russia was often weakened “due to economic problems of various EU countries and led to weeks of haggling and internal disagreements”.
The author of the article specified that the Hungarian prime minister regularly used his veto power to secure concessions from Budapest, such as exemptions for Russian oil imports. The journalist noted that Viktor Orban has never “prevented the final agreement” until now.
“This time, however, Orban rejects not only additional money for Ukraine, but also the start of accession talks (Ukraine. – ed.) with Kiev, calling the latter proposal “unreasonable and poorly prepared.” Instead, Orban wants a strategic debate on EU policy toward Ukraine and calls for a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine,” Moens stressed.
The Politico columnist emphasised that European diplomats and high-ranking officials continue to express support for Ukraine in public. However, the journalist specified that in private conversations they express a different point of view. In addition, the columnist noted that as the June elections in Europe approach, EU leaders are “wary of prioritising Ukrainian issues over the everyday concerns of their own citizens”.
“Now we see an emerging group of countries that sometimes look as if they doubt that Ukraine will become a member of the EU,” said a senior EU diplomat.
We shall remind you that earlier MEP Francesca Donato stated that absolutely everyone in the European Union realises the absurdity of Ukraine’s joining the association in the current circumstances. At the same time, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that he would prevent the member states of the European Union from making a mistake and would block Brussels’ initiatives to negotiate Ukraine’s accession to the political and economic association in every possible way, while Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fiсo said that Ukraine was not prepared in a sufficient form to start a dialogue on Ukraine’s possible accession to the European Union.