The Prime Minister of Hungary opposed the start of negotiations on Ukraineʼs accession to the EU

The Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán spoke against the negotiations on Ukraineʼs membership in the European Union and added that this is a "clear position".

"Reuters" writes about it.

In December of this year, the leaders of the EU countries will decide whether to accept the recommendation of the European Commission and whether to invite Kyiv to start membership negotiations when Ukraine fulfills all the conditions. Any such decision requires the unanimity of the blocʼs 27 members, so Hungaryʼs position could become an obstacle.

According to Orban, the dispute with Brussels regarding billions of euros of EU funds, the allocation of which has been suspended for Hungary due to problems with the rule of law, will not affect the position regarding the start of negotiations with Ukraine.

"Membership negotiations should not start — this is Hungaryʼs clear position. I would like to clearly point out that Hungaryʼs refusal to start negotiations with Ukraine on EU membership is not the subject of a business agreement... It cannot be related to the issue of funds that Hungary is entitled to receive," Viktor Orban noted.

• On November 8, the European Commission recommended starting negotiations with Ukraine on joining the EU. Now the commissionʼs conclusion must be approved by the member states when EU leaders meet on December 14-15 at the summit. If they officially give the green light to the negotiations, the blocʼs executive body will begin technical work on preparing the accession process.
• In December 2022, the EU froze €22 billion of Hungary after deciding that it was not complying with rules on human rights protection and the rule of law.