Péter Magyar: Orbán cabinet demanded Ukraine’s EU accession before – UPDATE: FM Szijjártó

Peter Magyar, the leader of the opposition Tisza Party, on Wednesday insisted that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government was “the biggest supporter of Ukraine’s EU accession”, arguing that Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó had himself demanded that Ukraine be admitted to the bloc, which Orbán had not vetoed at a Brussels summit in December 2023.

“Just as with the EU funds, the government is accusing others of what it is doing,” a statement by the Tisza Party quoted Magyar as saying.

“Orbán failed to protect Hungarian farmers and beekeepers from Ukrainian honey and grain imports,” Magyar said. “Orbán released convicted Ukrainian human traffickers from Hungarian prisons. Orbán’s oligarchs are now trying to buy 10,000-hectare lands in Ukraine. Viktor Orbán and his propaganda are even lying when they’re asking questions. Don’t let yourself be misled!”

Magyar also said that Fidesz was synonymous with “lies and violence” and Tisza with “peace and a humane Hungary”.

UPDATE: Tisza supports Ukraine’s EU membership, FM Szijjártó says

The Tisza Party has decided to back Ukraine becoming an EU member, Péter Szijjártó said in a post on Facebook on Wednesday. Tisza’s leader, Péter Magyar — European People’s Party chief “Manfred Weber’s man” — “is struggling to explain himself … but in vain”, the foreign minister said.

Szijjártó said the Hungarian government has “always supported peace” but it never backed Ukraine. He said that in exchange for a prolonged war, Brussels would fast-track Ukraine’s EU membership. This, the minister added, would “destroy Hungary, which is why we do not agree to Ukraine’s EU membership”. “But the Tisza Party does,” he declared, adding that Hungarians should decide the matter in the upcoming referendum.