The Hungarian government has begun sending out ballots for a national consultation, in which Hungarians are being asked whether they support Ukraineʼs membership in the European Union. Budapest is explicitly urging citizens to speak out against it.
This is stated on the website of the Hungarian government.
The ballot for voting on Ukraineʼs membership in the EU contains the question: "Do you support Ukraineʼs accession to the European Union?" and the answer: "YES/NO." The ballots are delivered by mail.
However, the Hungarian government directly writes that Ukraineʼs accelerated accession to the EU will allegedly negatively affect the lives of all Hungarians and cause enormous losses to the country.
“This will cost every Hungarian family hundreds of thousands of forints per year, jeopardize pensions and support for farmers, and pose risks to security and the labor market,” the letter says.
In addition, Budapest claims that with EU accession, Ukrainian workers will be able to work freely in European countries, which “threatens Hungarian jobs and salaries”. Millions of Ukrainian pensioners will allegedly receive the right to Hungarian pensions, and all land subsidies will be transferred from Hungarian farmers to Ukrainians. They also emphasize that Ukraine, even before the full-scale Russian invasion, was “the center of drug trafficking and organized crime” in Eastern Europe, so that later the “Ukrainian mafia” will fill European streets.
In general, the Hungarian government appeals to the fact that the quality of life of Hungarians will allegedly deteriorate significantly due to Ukraineʼs accession to the European Union. They must return their ballot papers by June 20, 2025.
Politico reported that the Hungarian government has conducted similar polls before. According to media reports, the results of such polls have no legal force, but they are used to strengthen the Orban governmentʼs positions on controversial issues.
When will we become a member of the EU?
This will happen only after Ukraine fulfills all requirements and fully implements all European standards.
There are various examples in the history of EU enlargement. Finland applied in 1992 and became a member of the European Union in 1995. Poland applied in 1994 and joined the EU 10 years later. The last country to join the European Union was Croatia. It applied in 2003 and became a new member in 2013.
There are also countries that still remain candidates for accession. These are four Balkan countries: Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Turkey has the same status. But in all of these countries the process is slowing down. Turkey does not meet the EU requirements at all and does not show any desire to join it. In Serbia, the majority of the population does not want to join the European Union, and the country itself has close ties with Russia. Albania has not even started accession negotiations yet, and in Montenegro, with the change of government, the foreign policy orientation is changing — either towards the EU or towards Serbia. North Macedonia is doing the most to join the European Union, but its progress is blocked by its neighbours. At first, Greece demanded a name change — and the Macedonians did it, now Bulgaria is demanding that North Macedonia recognize that its people and language have Bulgarian roots and originate from Bulgaria.
Most importantly, now, after receiving candidate status, everything depends on the Ukrainian authorities. They have received a clear list of reforms that need to be implemented, and society has the opportunity to control this process. In addition, candidate status will mean access to EU financial funds — in fact, the EU itself will provide money for reforms. One thing can be said for sure: the sooner Ukraine reforms, the sooner it will be able to become a member of the EU.
- Ukraine applied for membership in the European Union on February 28, 2022, four days after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.
- In June 2022, Ukraine officially became a candidate for membership in the European Union, and a year later, Ukraine and the EU officially began membership negotiations.
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