Ukraine’s EU accession ‘would cost more than the war’, says Minister Gulyás

If Europe allows Ukraine to become an EU membership once the war is over, “it could cost more than the war itself”, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, Gergely Gulyás, told a conference in Budapest on Thursday.

Gulyás added that in peacetime, Ukraine’s accession could “pose the greatest danger” to the bloc. He said it was a welcome development that “now Europe is talking more and more about the need for peace”, adding that “peace offers the best opportunities for Hungary’s economic growth”.

Gulyás said the worst-case scenario would be “the wrong peace or no peace”, but added that “if Ukraine’s accession continues to be Brussels’ goal, it would put an even greater burden on the community than the war itself”.

Meanwhile, Gulyás said Hungary’s employment figures were “among the highest in Europe” despite war related difficulties, adding that “one million people more are working in Hungary than in 2010”.

“The government’s goals are clear: the family support system needs to be expanded, while small and medium-sized companies need to be helped,” Gulyás said. Integrating the Roma minority into the workforce through education and labour programmes is a key government task, he added.

FM Szijjártó urges Brussels not to thwart Russia-Ukraine peace talks

The Hungarian government “expects Brussels, European countries and their leaders not to thwart the success of the Russian-Ukrainian peace talks,” the Hungarian foreign minister said in Antalya, Turkiye, on Thursday.

The foreign ministry quoted Péter Szijjártó as saying after an informal meeting of his NATO counterparts that he hoped that peace talks set for later in the day in Istanbul would go ahead.

“We have urged peace talks for three years,” he said. “In March 2022, here in Istanbul, Turkiye, Ukrainians and Russians almost managed to strike an agreement … after less than two months of fighting. Concluding the war, however, was obstructed at that time … by politicians who have attacked us day after day during the past three years for promoting peace and a ceasefire,” Szijjártó said.