‘This can’t be decided without us’: Hungary prepares vote on Ukraine’s EU bid
Ballots for the referendum on Ukraine’s European Union accession are already being printed, and Hungarians will soon get the chance to have their say in the matter, a state secretary of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office said on Wednesday.
In a video posted on the government’s Facebook page, Balázs Hidvéghi inspected the printing of the ballot papers, saying: “This isn’t just a piece of paper. It protects what matters most: the opinion of the Hungarian people.” The state secretary said every single ballot would be inspected in the presence of a public notary in order to rule out the possibility of abuse and manipulation.
The ballots will be delivered to all citizens by the end of May, he said.
“They have already decided in Brussels that they want to fast-track Ukraine’s admission to the European Union,” Hidvéghi said. “They have already commissioned and paid for the surveys that will show that the majority of Hungarians are in favour of this.”
“Those doing the bidding of Brussels here at home, from [Tisza leader] Péter Magyar to [Democratic Coalition leader] Ferenc Gyurcsány, support this admission,” he said, adding that rushing Ukraine’s accession posed serious financial and security risks for Hungary.
“This cannot be decided without us,” the state secretary said, adding Hungarians will now be given the chance to vote on Ukraine’s potential EU membership in a public poll “that can’t be rigged”.
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The admission of countries like Hungary to the European Union (EU) in the 2004 enlargement was received with mixed reactions across the populations of existing member states. This enlargement, which brought in ten countries from Central and Eastern Europe (including Hungary), was one of the biggest in EU history and marked a significant moment of reunification after the Cold War.
Here’s a breakdown of how it was generally perceived:
1. Optimism and Support
Political elites and EU institutions often framed the enlargement as a historic opportunity to promote peace, stability, and democracy in Europe.
Many ordinary citizens, especially those with a pro-European outlook, supported the move as a moral and political obligation to reunify Europe and support the transition of post-communist countries.
2. Concerns and Skepticism
In several older member states, however, there were notable public concerns, including:
Economic competition: Some Western Europeans feared that workers from new member states like Hungary would migrate west and undercut local wages or take jobs.
Social services pressure: There were worries that increased migration would strain welfare systems, healthcare, and housing.
Cultural concerns: Some people expressed fears about integration and the potential dilution of national identities.
EU budget: Taxpayers in richer countries were concerned about the financial burden of supporting development in the new, poorer member states.
These concerns led to:
Transitional restrictions: Many older EU countries (like Germany, Austria, and the UK) imposed temporary restrictions on the free movement of workers from countries like Hungary for up to seven years.
3. Public opinion polls
Around 2004, Eurobarometer surveys showed that support for enlargement was higher in the new member states and lower in older ones.
Countries like the UK and France saw more skepticism, while Scandinavian and some Southern European countries were more supportive overall.
4. Long-term perspective
Over time, initial anxieties lessened somewhat as migration flows stabilized and the economic impact became clearer.
However, tensions resurfaced in later years due to political developments in countries like Hungary, particularly around democratic backsliding and rule of law issues. This led to increased criticism among Western European populations and governments.
Out of the question.
Ukraine is in no position to accede to the E.U.
If they were jerking around Croatia for more than a decade before allowing it to join, while Serbia and Macedonia won’t be admitted for at least a generation, then Ukraine has no business being even talked about in this context.
Bringing Ukraine into the EU serves to keep Russia out and therefore keep Russia further away from the rest of us. That is why obviously Russia would oppose it and why Fidesz opposes it as “a member of Putin’s team”. Fidesz has been non-stop actively agitating against Ukraine in Hungary for many years now to bring the Hungarian population against Ukraine. By contrast it promotes pro-Serbian propaganda for a regime that is throroughly corrupt and despised by most of the population in case you haven’t paid attention to the protests.
Ukraine admission would ruing EU agricultural market. Ukraine will be shipping chemically treated products to lower the life expectancy of Europeans and an increase in allergic reaction in the young.