Member of EU parliament urges to stop letting Orban 'blackmailing' EU
Photo: Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban (Getty Images)
Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban should not be allowed to blackmail the European Union. Exchanging money for values is unacceptable, says the vice chair of the Socialist and Democratic group in the European parliament Pedro Marques.
"This is a make or break moment for the EU. It is a wake up call for the leaders that we cannot continue allowing ourselves to be blackmailed by some authoritarian leader," said Marques.
According to him, the EU cannot put itself in a deadlock regarding assistance to Ukraine, especially in the context of the U.S. Congress rejecting President Joe Biden's proposal to support our country.
"It also not acceptable, from my point of view, that anyone gets the perception that at the end of next week, Orbán got his way and got his €30bn in exchange for allowing the EU to continue to assist Ukraine... We cannot trade money for values. It’s not acceptable," added Marques.
The warning from the vice chairman of the group of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament came on the eve of the planned meeting of French President Emmanuel Macron with Orban in Paris. It is expected that Macron will try to convince the latter that blocking the start of negotiations with Ukraine on joining the EU will undermine the union's strategy in the fight against dictator Vladimir Putin.
In particular, Marques believes that the EU should abandon the rule of unanimous support for the enlargement of the union.
"When you join the EU it means you are a democratic country. I guess we did not foresee that democracy could be corrupted from the inside," he said.
Hungary against negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU
In early November, the European Commission recommended starting negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union in a report. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto immediately stated that his country was against opening a dialogue.
At the same time, Orban called on EU officials not to raise the issue of Ukraine's accession to the bloc at the upcoming summit.
More details on why Hungary is blocking the start of Ukraine's accession negotiations with the EU can be found in the material of RBC-Ukraine.
