PM Orbán: Hungary to organise referendum about Ukraine’s EU accession, he scares with 100-200k Ukrainian guest workers

Ukraine’s European Union membership would ruin the economy of the EU and Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told public radio on Friday, calling for the decision on the matter to be postponed.

No rational basis for supporting Ukraine’s war

Speaking from Brussels, Orbán said that “there is no rational basis” for the position of 26 European member states when it comes to continuing the war in Ukraine. “We have always said that there should be peace,” the prime minister told public radio on Friday. “We’ve been saying this now for three years.” The consequences of the war were “unbearable” for Hungarians, or would be borne with “great difficulty”, he said.

The other 26 EU member member states, he said, had a strategy to “convince the Ukrainians and themselves that it makes sense to continue the war”, even without the US, in which case “every last penny will go towards this war”. The divergence of opinion between Hungary and the other member states was “not new” but had been “bridged so far”, Orbán said. But now the divergence was between “peace-loving countries” led by the US and the 26 EU member states on whether there should be further war or whether peace should prevail.

Regarding the emergency EU summit on Ukraine on Thursday, Orbán said that rather than taking a stand for peace, the other member states had decided to continue the war, in the presence of the Ukrainian president. Orbán said he “wondered” what the others were hoping for, as “the Russians are winning on the front lines” despite the support of the other 26 member states and the US “up to now”.

Americans get out

“If the Americans get out now, how will the 26 member states stand a better chance of winning this war?” Orbán said, adding that the member states would take on heavy financial burdens if they decided to continue the war. NATO would not send money to Ukraine either, he said, “because the power axes have changed there too: the US wants peace, as does Turkiye, which maintains the second largest contingent in NATO, as well as Hungary and Slovakia.”

The summit discussed, “amid sharp disputes”, the goals the EU would finance in Ukraine, he said. Europe would finance the maintenance of the 800,000-strong Ukrainian army, Orbán said, adding that Zelensky had estimated the country would need 1 million troops after the war, too.

Further, the Ukrainian state would also need to be funded, as it is “currently non-functional”, Orban said, and Europe would also need to strengthen its own army. Ukraine’s EU membership, “which is at the door”, would also cost a hefty sum, Orbán said.

Orbán’s veto

“Today, it looks like I vetoed [the decision]. I have to admit we are not a part of what they adopted; but they will be back in weeks when it turns out there is no money to achieve these goals.” He said “we must seriously consider” the post-war financing of Ukraine, “because we don’t want all Europe’s money and all Hungary’s resources … to go to Ukraine.”

Orban warned that a Ukraine with EU membership would push the economy of the EU and Hungary to the brink of ruin. “Help is a nice thing”, and Ukraine needs it, he said, “but we can’t help them by ruining ourselves”. The tendency must be stopped in good time, he said, “because there is no chance of making a responsible decision now”. Ukraine may only join the EU with the unanimous support of all member states, he said. The process cannot be rushed, and all details must be carefully considered, he said.

Hungarians will vote about Ukraine’s EU membership

He added that he wanted to bring about a referendum on the topic as soon as possible.

Orbán warned that farmers would be the most threatened by Ukraine’s EU membership. “Ukraine is producing genetically modified produce under much laxer regulations that would depress prices if they flooded the European markets, and farmers would be ruined,” he said, noting the difficulties of Hungarian, Romanian and Polish farmers when “trade was opened” between the EU and Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Orbán said that Ukraine currently had 800,000 men serving in the army, “and the country has never been known for its excellent public safety”. Allowing the free movement “of citizens of such a country” in Hungary would be irresponsible at this juncture, he said.

Hundreds of thousands guest workers would come from Ukraine

Hungarian jobs would also suffer, he said, adding that Hungary could accomodate 30,000-50,000 guest workers a year, “not hundreds of thousands”. The referendum on Ukraine’s EU membership would tackle those issues, he said. “It should be organised similarly to National Consultation surveys, so everyone can voice their opinion.”

Orbán said other countries with more economic firepower than Hungary were calculating the cost of maintaining an army of one million in Ukraine, running the Ukrainian state, rearming Europe and bearing the burdens the country’s EU membership, and the conclusion would be drawn that “we cannot afford this”. He added that the roadmap adopted by 26 EU member states on Thursday would have to be changed owing to the implausible financing underpinning it.

Utility reduction scheme in Hungary a success

“Sooner or later”, he said, countries intent on waging war would turn to the peace camp as “everywhere in Europe people want peace”. Meanwhile, regarding the reduction of utility bills, the prime minister saied that every Hungarian household would pay around 500,000 forints (EUR 1,200) more each year “if we were to accept the Brussels position” and scrap the government scheme to reduce utility bills, adding that certain “representatives of Brussels in Hungary” shared that position.