Hungarian government: Ukraine’s EU accession would destroy Europe, nobody should decide above our heads

“Brussels shifted into a higher gear this week,” Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on Thursday. “They want to quickly push Ukraine into the European Union … and sacrifice the rights of Transcarpathian Hungarians,” he said.

Magyar fulfils Brussels’ orders at any cost

But “Brussels cannot make decisions above our heads,” the minister said on Facebook, noting that the government has launched a referendum “so that the Hungarian people can decide about Ukraine’s EU membership”.

Meanwhile, he said Péter Magyar, the leader and MEP of the opposition Tisza Party, had not previously taken a position on Ukraine. “Until now he has kept a low profile, but then came that phone call from Manfred Weber,” head of the European People’s Party, Szijjártó said. “Brussels has certainly instructed Magyar to show that Hungarians support Ukraine’s EU membership,” he added.

Szijjártó said that Magyar would “fulfil the order at any cost, even if it involves fraud; we can take it for granted that this would be the result of their signature drive.” That is why Magyar “would not wait” for the government’s referendum in which “everybody, every Hungarian could vote,” he added.

Ukraine’s EU accession would ‘destroy Europe’, prime minister’s PD Orbán said

If Ukraine joined the European Union in the present circumstances the whole of Europe “would be destroyed”, the prime minister’s political director said on Thursday, noting that Hungarians will soon have a chance to express their opinion on the matter in a referendum.

“It is our firm belief that the EU member states have an inalienable right to decide which other states to allow into the community of European countries,” Balazs Orbán said in Brussels. He added that this right must not be taken away from member states and neither should EU citizens be denied it. “So we believe in the necessity of expressing opinions in a democratic manner…” he said.

Orbán said Ukraine joining the bloc would come with “horrendous costs”, citing the necessity to rebuild Ukraine and finance its state. Moreover, the upheaval of cohesion and agricultural policies due to Ukraine’s involvement would cost Hungary dearly, he added. “We’re convinced that speeding up the EU integration of Ukraine cannot be done responsibly in the current situation,” he said.

Meanwhile, the political director said European unanimity regarding the Russia-Ukraine war had ceased to exist, which he attributed to “fundamental changes” in recent months. He noted that the new US leadership was working hard to restore channels of communications with the Russians and to move towards a ceasefire followed by peace talks.

Brussels and some member states want war

He said this coincided with the Hungarian position, one that the Hungarian government has held for three years. At the same time, he said the Brussels institutional system and several member states believed that the European Council should support the continuation of a war strategy “that has failed in the past three years”. He added that they wanted arms deliveries and to prolong the war.

“We Hungarians cannot assist in that,” he said, adding that sooner or later the changed situation would force Europe and the Brussels bureaucrats to adopt a more sensible approach. He said if the EU maintained its pro-war position, it would fall behind and not be involved in the peace talks. “We are convinced that the EU must support US efforts aimed at a ceasefire and peace talks,” he said.

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Featured image: Sándor Fegyir, Ukraine’s newly-appointed ambassador in Budapest, a Hungarian born and raised in Transcarpathia who worked as a tutor at the Ungvár university and volunteered to fight for Ukraine after the Russian invasion of the country.