Even though Tisza claims not to support Ukraine’s EU accession, Orbán sees and knows

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a video uploaded to Facebook on Monday that the opposition Tisza Party has expressed approval of Ukraine’s European Union membership, “thus completing a pact between Brussels and Tisza.”

Commenting on the opposition party welcoming the outcome of its public survey indicating that 58.2 percent of Hungarians supported Ukraine’s EU membership, Orbán said: “They’ve made it crystal clear … Brussels is helping Ukraine-friendly Tisza to assume power in Hungary, while Tisza supports Ukraine’s EU accession in turn.”

Ukraine’s accession, however, could “destroy the Hungarian economy”, Orbán said. “Let’s not allow the Tisza Party to sell out Hungary’s future to Brussels in return for power! Let’s not allow them to make decisions in our stead!” the prime minister said, encouraging voters to participate in the government’s Voks 2025 referendum on Ukraine’s EU membership.

Tisza party: There is no clear indication of Ukraine’s EU integration

As we wrote today, concerning Ukraine’s possible EU accession, Magyar said the survey did not provide a clear indication “as to the majority of Hungarians”, adding that a Tisza government would hold a binding referendum “which will determine the position it will represent.” Read details HERE – Péter Magyar: If Tisza wins, Hungary will return to being a reliable NATO ally and full EU member.

All in all, we can say that we are witnessing a very strange phenomenon, because Prime Minister Orbán is already reacting to the daily Tisza news, and Péter Magyar has completely taken over the control of public discourse, which was the strength of Fidesz and the Government.

As we wrote yesterday, PM Orbán ordered to sell 20,000 residency bonds for EUR 250,000 each, Péter Magyar said.

Orbán government: EU has vested interest making peace as soon as possible

The European Union clearly has a vested interest in making peace as soon as possible, which can be achieved through a ceasefire and negotiations on a sustainable peace, the EU affairs minister told parliament’s EU affairs committee meeting on Monday.

Bóka said the EU should support the peace initiative of US President Donald Trump as this was the only initiative for peace “that is on the table and can be taken seriously”. He added that the EU should seek opportunities that contribute to the success of the peace initiative. He said it was necessary to reconsider EU-Russia trade links in order to restore European economic competitiveness and economic growth.

Bóka also said the EU should work on a new European security architecture to strengthen its own defence capabilities. “This architecture must have negotiating, diplomatic and institutional frameworks, and Russia must be involved in some way in this framework,” he said.

Bóka said the EU was currently unable to define a strategy that did not focus on Ukraine but on the security of Europe. “The EU continues to be set on pursuing policies that focus on Ukraine’s financial and military support and reconstruction, and setting conditions for the ongoing US-Russia talks that are not part of those talks,” he said.

He said certain member states and institutions considered EU enlargement as a “security guarantee” which demonstrated a complete misunderstanding of European integration. Bóka said Ukraine was placed on a “political and procedural fast track”, and the country’s accession process was essentially different from all forms of accession witnessed in the past.

He said its speed was unprecedented, adding that it was justified to ask the opinions of citizens if they could see political and economic reality in this accession process. Bóka said supporting Ukraine cost European taxpayers much money, with EU data showing that 135-140 billion euros “actual support” has been transferred to Ukraine from budget resources since February 2022, equalling one year of the EU budget. “On average, we’re spending a quarter of the EU budget on this while Ukraine is not yet an EU member,” he added.

Commenting on European defence policy, he said Hungary supported proposals that served to increase member states’ room for manoeuvre, also in terms of their budget spending. He added that Hungary played a constructive role when participating in legislative procedures.

He also said that Hungary continued to consider it viable to guarantee the security of the European continent under the arrangements of NATO cooperation.

In connection with migration, Bóka said Hungary supported European efforts to speed up returns and review the concept of safe third countries and countries of origin. He added, however, that this was only a partial solution.

Commenting on EU proposals regarding the reduction of energy prices, he said the Commission’s action plan listed several instruments that member countries could use, but “unfortunately it is silent” about areas where a review could result in price reductions. Citing the review of sanctions policy and the emissions quota trading system, Bóka said: “While these areas are left untouched, it will be impossible to reduce energy prices on a European level, and this has a damaging effect on Europe’s competitiveness.”