Hungary warns: EU states far from consensus on support for Ukraine

European Union member states are “very far” from reaching a consensus on support for Ukraine and the European security architecture, Hungary’s European affairs minister said in Brussels, adding that member states had failed to settle certain “fundamental political disagreements” at a meeting on Tuesday.

János Bóka told a press conference after a meeting of the General Affairs Council that EU institutions should refrain from making “sweeping political statements” and setting target dates regarding Ukraine without the consensual support of European leaders or a European Council resolution. Hungary does not consider the matter of Ukraine’s accession to the EU one that relates to security guarantees, the minister said, adding that the bloc’s enlargement procedure should be objective and merit-based, and Ukraine was “no exception” in this regard.

EU affairs ministers, he said, had also prepared the European Council’s special summit scheduled for March 6 and the next regular summit on March 20-21. He noted that next week’s summit will focus on European defence and support for Ukraine, while the regular summit will be about competitiveness, migration and the next seven-year budget. Bóka said Hungary urged caution regarding the special summit so as to avoid the EU appearing divided.

Bóka said he believed the special summit had been convened in reaction to the direct talks between the United States and Russia, while it was unclear whether Europe could take part in those talks and, if so, in what form. He said this summit was unlikely to fully settle that question but would give EU leaders a chance to discuss it.

Concerning competitiveness, the minister said that under the Budapest Declaration adopted during Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the EU last year, EU leaders are to regularly discuss the issue. Hungary, he added, was awaiting the European Commission’s proposals on deregulation, streamlining, lowering energy prices and green industry solutions. He said the Council of the EU was also adopting conclusions on migration, which needed to be consistent with the turnaround in migration that began last October.

Meanwhile, Bóka said, EU affairs ministers had also discussed the matter of transparency concerning grant contracts between the European Commission and civil organisations, at Hungary’s proposal. The Hungarian delegation had expressed its doubts regarding the transparency of the current laws and the institutional framework and proposed that the European Council could seek direct access to these contracts, or the EC, together with other institutions, could grant greater access to them, he said.

The minister said private individuals, member states and institutions could request access to these contracts, but the EC had made it clear at Tuesday’s meeting that it did not consider itself legally obligated to make them public in their entirety.

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