An MEP of Lithuania, Andrius Kubilius, said that Hungary would baulk Ukraine’s NATO and EU accession. He added that Kyiv might join the EU by 2029. And that is a favourable scenario. Meanwhile, Western allies are frustrated because of PM Orbán’s moves regarding Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO accession.
Hungary would baulk Ukraine’s EU and NATO accession
According to index.hu, Mr Kubilius cleared that without a Russian defeat, the accession is unimaginable. He is one of the biggest supporters of Ukraine in the European Parliament. He has been supporting the country’s NATO and EU membership for years. Ha highlighted that Kyiv could become an EU member by 2029, but the Ukrainians might join NATO in 2024. However, that will not be easy because Hungary can veto the decision.
The Lithuanian MEP said that the Ukrainians should defeat Russia first. Then Putin and Lavrov should be tried in an international court. Afterwards comes Ukraine’s NATO accession, which would make clear to the Russians that they would never reestablish their empire in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post wrote about the ratification question of Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO accession. They said Western allies are frustrated since Hungary delayed the decision several times, and the Budapest parliament will only vote about it on 20 March. Türkiye is the other NATO member that has not yet approved the two Nordic countries’ bid.
Speaker: EU, NATO not taking steps towards peace
Neither the European Union nor NATO are taking steps towards peace in Ukraine, but rather increasing escalation, Speaker of Parliament László Kövér told commercial HirTV late on Friday. Concerning the criticisms levelled at Hungary’s parliament over not having debated Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession bids until now, Kövér said Hungary was a sovereign country whose parliament sets its agenda at its own discretion. Sweden and Finland will not be able to join the alliance until Turkiye gives its approval, the speaker said, adding that this was unlikely to happen until it holds elections later this year. Kövér said it could take until the summer NATO summit for both countries to be ratified by all member states.
He said the reason why Hungary was sending parliamentary delegations to Sweden and Finland was because the ruling Fidesz and Christian Democrat parliamentary groups had expressed concern and did not consider the decision on the ratification to be an automatic one. At the same time, he added, it should be clarified that Hungary is a sovereign member of both NATO and the EU and had joined both organisations voluntarily. Hungary does not believe that its position within these alliances has changed over the last decades, he said.
Finland: increased risk of a future military conflict
The politicians who are now asking for Hungary’s support have behaved in a way “that would have been considered harsh even coming from our enemies”, Kövér said. It should be made clear that they have no right to interfere in Hungarian politics, Kövér said, adding that an alliance involves trust, “which was thoroughly undermined before the accession”. He said support for Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession was not a question of “good manners or sensitivity”, insisting that the two countries had insulted Hungary for years and had caused damage to its national interests. They are now pressuring EU institutions not to give Hungary the funding it is entitled to, he added.
Kövér said the Hungarian delegation will meet with the Swedish and Finnish parliamentary speakers, relevant committees and foreign ministers on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. The delegation will be headed by Fidesz lawmaker Csaba Hende and will include Zsolt Nemeth, the head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, and MEPs Enikő Győri and Ernő Schaller-Baross, he added. Kövér said the Swedish and Finnish armies were well-prepared and well-equipped and would strengthen NATO. He added, at the same time, that the 1,340km border NATO and Russia will share because of Finland increased the risk of a future military conflict between them.
He said the 60 billion US dollars’ worth of weapons EU and NATO member states had sent to Ukraine made them party to the conflict. Peace, he said, was ultimately dependent on Russia and Ukraine. Neither the EU nor NATO are taking steps towards peace, but rather increasing escalation, the speaker said. Kövér urged a compromise that takes into consideration both Ukraine’s territorial integrity and Russia’s security expectations. Meanwhile, he said the planned amendment to Hungary’s child protection law should also involve reviewing the regulation of media players that are not headquartered in Hungary but broadcast in the country.
Source: MTI, index.hu, Washington Post
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3 Comments
Yesterday it was 20B -today it’s 60B the US put in for the war when the real number is over 100B. If the NATO members don’t pay their share of NATO over the last 60 years or we will with hold funds because the EU is a joke. It and the US are responsible for the war when they ousted the twice elected president 10 years ago- no mention corruption escalated by 100%. Interesting the US blew up N stream2 – even more interesting it’s got little coverage here.
Let me know if I’m going too fast for you.
There are no valid reasons for Hungary to oppose Swedish membership of NATO. It is an ally of Hungary. Hungary has Swedish Gripens. Both countries are significant countries to the EU.
Finland and Ukraine should not join NATO.
All Central European countries need to recognize this. I will explin why.
Finland should not have been allowed to join the EU, while other states directly bordering Russia should not have been allowed to join either NATO or the EU. These serious wrongs broke firm commitments made to the late great Mikhail Gorbachev at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union. These countries should be demilitarized zones: they should be strictly supervised by the UN: they should have state of the art air defence systems; they should not be the home to any tanks or other offencive weapons. NATO membership for these countries is wrong on many levels; not least because it humiliates, threatens and provokes Russia.
Considering Ukraine for Membership of the EU and NATO displays both a shocking ignorance of world history and a vindictive contempt of the Russian people. Inevitably, it is seen by critics of “The West” as another heinous example of “Western Imperialism”
If areas of Ukraine, which were previously part of Hungary, wish to return to their motherland then they should be warmly welcomed back. I hope there will be a plebiscite very soon after a ceasefire.
Historically, Crimea was never a part of Ukraine. It was “gifted” to the government of Ukraine in the 1950’s for purely political reasons. After a ceasefire, those people who were lawfully Resident in Crimea before the events of 2014 should be granted a plebiscite to determine whether they want independence or to be a part of either Ukraine or The Russian Federation.
The above could not be considered to be “destroying Ukraine”. On the contrary, it would help to affirm Ukraine as a legitimate and homogeneous entity at a time when it must establish new and robust systems of government for peacetime.
Sweden has done nothing but tried to undermine the Hungarian government. The constant unwarranted criticism never ceased. Does Hungary really want to be in the same club with an ultra-socialist, hostile government?