Importing war into Europe: Szijjártó comes up with ridiculous reasons not to admit Ukraine to EU
Photo: Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó (Getty Images)
Ukraine should not be admitted to the European Union because new EU members are expected to strengthen the bloc. However, Ukraine would allegedly weaken it due to being at war with Russia, states Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó in an interview with the American TV channel CNN.
Szijjártó confirmed that Hungary opposes Ukraine’s accession to the EU, claiming that such a move would bring only war to the European Union. According to him, no one wants that scenario, and Ukraine’s current state would allegedly only weaken the bloc.
"Ukraine will definitely not make the European Union stronger — to the contrary. A country at war would import the war itself into the European Union, which we do not want. The current state of Ukraine would weaken the European Union pretty much," he said.
In addition, Szijjártó called it "unfair" to allocate billions of euros to support Ukraine. The representative of a country that is the largest recipient of EU funds among member states added that "Hungarian taxpayers’ money" should not be spent on aid to Kyiv.
"We do not want the money of Hungarian taxpayers to be brought to Ukraine. So, under the current circumstances, we definitely do not support Ukraine joining the European Union," the minister said.
At the same time, Szijjártó noted that Hungary is a key supplier of electricity to Ukraine. Budapest also helps Ukrainian refugees. However, he made it clear that Hungary will not support Ukraine’s EU membership.
"You say that we are not in favor of Ukraine, but we are helping Ukraine in any way. But we are not ready to ruin Hungary. The Hungarian people have been paying the price of this war for too long time, although we don't have any kind of responsibility. This is not our war at all," the minister added.
Pro-Russian Hungary blocks Ukraine’s EU accession
Hungary is currently blocking the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. The country’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, is fueling anti-Ukrainian hysteria at home. A close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Orbán recently sparked a scandal after failing to locate Ukraine on a map.
Despite this, Ukraine remains firmly committed to meeting all EU membership criteria by 2027. As former Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Olha Stefanishyna noted, Ukraine is adhering to the established timeline and continues moving toward membership.
She also recently emphasized that all negotiation clusters on Ukraine’s accession to the EU should be opened by the end of 2025.
