Ukraine

Survey shows Hungarians do not want Ukraine to join the EU

ukraine eu flag

Partial results of the National Consultation public survey indicate that 98 percent of respondents say Ukraine has not met the conditions for joining the EU, according to a government official.

Although forms are still being delivered and the deadline for returning questionnaires expires in a month’s time, “it is by now clear that many people are expressing their opinions”, and 280,000 questionnaires have been returned so far, Csaba Dömötör, state secretary of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office, said during a debate in parliament on Wednesday of a draft government resolution regarding Ukraine’s EU bid.

Normally results are made public after the consultation ends, he said, but an exception had been made in light of the “intense” debate over Ukrainian EU membership.

Fidesz MEP: EU divided on Ukraine EU accession

The European Union is not united on the issue of starting accession talks with Ukraine, Kinga Gál, an MEP of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz, said in Strasbourg on Wednesday. Gál told MTI that the decision on starting the talks had not been prepared adequately, and it was uncertain as to what sort of consequences the admission of a country of Ukraine’s size and in such an economic and political situation would have for the bloc. She said Ukraine’s EU membership would have serious consequences for Hungary.

Meanwhile, Gál said the EU had always emphasised uniform conditions when it came to enlargement policy.

“There is no progress being made on enlargement in the Western Balkans because those countries have not fulfilled all the conditions, but Ukraine hasn’t even fulfilled the seven conditions set by the EU for the start of accession talks,” the MEP said. “Despite this, the European Commission would be ready to start the talks.”

She said it was clear that Ukraine did not meet the criteria for starting the talks, not least because it had not resolved the issue of minority rights. She said the EU was applying double standards to Ukraine and had made a hasty decision under political pressure without seeking the opinion of the public.

“The EU would start accession talks with Ukraine without having devised any strategies or preparing an impact study,” Gál said. “Public opinion polls, for instance, show that most EU residents don’t support the start of accession talks with Ukraine at all.”

Read also:

Viktor Orbán takes a tough stand against Ukraine’s accession to the EU

PM Viktor Orbán Ukraine

Orbán said neither Hungarians living in Ukraine or those in Hungary wanted more than for Ukraine’s minorities to regain the rights they had enjoyed before 2015. “We’re not asking for a new law, new solutions or complex procedures; all we ask is the restoration of the law that guaranteed Hungarians’ rights … to community life,” the prime minister said.

Talks with Ukraine on possible EU membership “right now are absurd, ridiculous and unserious”, and the government will not support them, Orbán said.

Right now no one knows what Ukraine’s accession would entail or how much territory or population would be integrated into the bloc, he said.

He noted that the bloc opening accession talks with a country at war was unprecedented.

Orbán said that when the EU partially opened up its market, member states had been forced on the defensive in the areas of agriculture and transport. “Tens or even hundreds of thousands of Hungarians could go bankrupt because of this,” he said.

The country’s accession would mean handing over 17 percent of the current EU budget, he added.

Citing estimates by German analysts, Orbán said Ukraine’s EU membership would cost the bloc an additional EUR 190 billion.

Ukraine would be entitled to 93 billion euros of agricultural funding from the seven-year budget, Orbán said, noting this was more than what France, the largest CAP money recipient, receives now and ten times as much as what Hungary gets.

“A large chunk of this money would make its way into the pockets of Americans, given the way the Americans have bought their way in to Ukraine’s farm sector up to their jugulars,” Orbán said. The start of accession talks would therefore mean that every member state, besides Ukraine, would become a net contributor or would lose 20 percent of their agricultural funding, he added.

Ukraine would also be entitled to EUR 87 billion in cohesion funds, “three times the amount Hungary is entitled to on paper”, Orbán said.

Read also:

He appealed to both the opposition left wing and the “national side” to consider Ukraine’s EU membership not as a party political issue, but as a national one.

Ukraine’s EU membership in its current form would be starkly against Hungary’s interests, Orbán said. “Ukraine can and should be helped, but no one could possibly want Hungary to be ruined in the process,” he said.

“Hungary is under pressure, but we mustn’t be diverted away from being the voice of reason in Europe,” the prime minister said.

“Our interest lies in a peaceful and prosperous Ukraine, but this requires achieving peace as quickly as possible and a carefully considered deepening of the strategic partnership,” he said.

This, he said, could lead to Ukraine’s EU membership “several years from now when the time for it is actually right”. “There is a time for everything, but the time for Ukraine’s European Union membership isn’t here yet,” Orbán said.

Fidesz: ‘We mustn’t dance to Brussels elite’s tune on Ukraine EU entry’

Kocsis Máté

“We must not dance to the tune of the Brussels elite on the issue of Ukraine’s European Union accession,” ruling Fidesz’s group leader said on Wednesday.

In a parliamentary debate on a draft resolution concerning Ukraine’s EU membership submitted by the ruling parties, Kocsis said the European Commission’s proposal on Ukraine’s accession was ill-considered and untimely.

He said there were several questions left to be answered in connection with Ukraine’s membership, noting that the country was at war and it was currently impossible to tell whether its legal system was in line with the constitutional structure expected of EU member states.

Kocsis said the draft resolution made it clear that “Hungary must not jump irresponsibly into this adventure”.

“Here is another issue on which we can’t dance to the tune of the Brussels elite,” he said. “We need consensus rather than imperial directives, but this is missing in Europe today.”

Read also:

PM Orbán: Not in EU’s interest for Ukraine to join quickly

PM Viktor Orbán

Ukraine joining the EU quickly would have unforeseeable consequences and would serve neither Hungary nor the bloc’s interests, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told MPs on Wednesday.

He said it was important to hold a substantive debate on Ukraine’s accession in parliament in respect of the ruling Fidesz party’s parliamentary draft resolution on Ukraine’s accession talks.

Orbán said the debate in the Hungarian parliament could have an impact on Hungary and the EU’s future, yet a real debate in the EU had not taken place.

Ukraine, he noted, was given candidate status last year, four months after submitting its application for membership. Normally, he added, three years passed after an application was made and candidate status granted. In the case of central and eastern European states, this process took four years, he said.

Orbán noted that accession negotiations with North Macedonia were not currently taking place even though it had submitted its application for membership in 2004, while Montenegro submitted its application in 2008 and waited a year and a half to start accession talks and two years for membership. He also made similar observations about Serbia and Albania.

The prime minister said “naked partisanship” undermined the authority of EU institutions, while the role of national parliaments was enhanced. National parliaments, he added, were needed for a debate on whether it was a good idea to start accession talks with Ukraine.

The prime minister said the government’s currently standpoint — although the debate may convince it otherwise — was that Ukraine joining the EU quickly would have unforeseeable consequences and would serve neither Hungary nor the bloc’s interests.

The European Union should take its rules seriously, Orbán said. If European institutions did not take these rules seriously, the entirety of the EU would “simply cease to exist”, he said. But Ukraine’s swift accession, he said, would mean that EU institutions would be asking member states, including Hungary, “not to follow our own rules”.

Read also: 

The prime minister noted that the European Commission had set seven specific conditions for Ukraine to meet to be granted candidate country status. And unlike the existing member states, Ukraine was granted candidate status before having met these conditions, he added.

He listed the conditions as: reforming how constitutional judges are selected, vetting the supreme judicial council, stepping up action against money laundering, guaranteeing media freedom, taking action against corruption and oligarchs, and enforcing national minority rights.

Orbán insisted that even the “biased” Commission had admitted that Ukraine had only met four of the seven conditions. “So the EU shouldn’t even have granted Ukraine candidate country status, to say nothing of starting accession talks,” he said, adding that independent assessments showed that even those four conditions had not been properly met.

The prime minister told lawmakers that when it came to a country at war, objections over current media rules and practices could not be objected to. “But this doesn’t mean we Europeans should make the laughable claim that media freedom prevails in Ukraine,” he said, adding that the Commission had made just such a claim.

Referring to minorities in Ukraine, Orbán said it was as yet unclear what was contained in the law recently passed by the Ukrainian parliament. In 2015, he added, Hungarians and other national minorities in Ukraine were deprived of the their rights.

Minister: Hungary won’t change its mind on Ukraine EU accession

Zelensky von der Leyen Brussels corrupt elite

Hungary will not change its mind in connection with starting Ukraine’s European Union accession talks and financial support for the country, the minister of EU affairs said on Tuesday.

Hungary firmly believes that starting EU accession talks would be premature, János Bóka said on Facebook, adding that Hungary’s position was based on principle.

He said financial support for Ukraine needed to be provided outside the EU budget with contributions and “clear political guidance” from member states.

“Linking the funds owed to the Hungarian people and support for Ukraine in any way is an attempt to blackmail Hungary, which the government rejects,” Bóka said.

The minister also said he had given an interview to Financial Times discussing the Hungarian government’s position on Ukraine.

Szijjártó: No decision on Ukraine EU accession talks at General Affairs Council meeting

Despite the pressure that has been applied, the European Union’s General Affairs Council did not make a decision on Tuesday on starting Ukraine’s EU accession talks, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Brussels.

Speaking at a press conference after the council’s meeting, Szijjártó said the talks had mainly focused on the European Commission’s enlargement package, adding that most member states had wanted there to be a decision on starting talks on Ukraine’s EU accession.

But contrary to the original aims and despite the pressure that had been applied, no such decision was made, with the council acknowledging the EC’s assessment, meaning that the decision will go before EU leaders at this week’s summit, Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement.

He noted that Hungary’s stance on the matter was not a tactical one, arguing that there was “no room for bargaining” because the government believed the EU was not prepared for starting a “well-structured accession process guaranteeing mutual benefits” with Ukraine.

The minister said it was clear that the EC had “no clue” how Ukraine’s potential membership would affect the bloc and its member states.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said Hungary had succeeded in having planned steps against Serbia removed from the package, along with the planned freezing of community funds for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s autonomous Serb Republic and steps that would have rendered accession talks with North Macedonia impossible.

“Contrary to European or global public opinion, pro-enlargement countries are actually in the minority in the European Union today,” Szijjártó said.

He lamented that the EU had not admitted a new member in ten years, that the bloc had not closed a single accession chapter with any of the candidate countries in six years, and that a new chapter was last opened two years ago.

North Macedonia has been a candidate country since 2005 and Albania since 2014, but real accession talks have yet to begin, Szijjártó said. Montenegro, he added, has had candidate status since 2010, and it had been six years since an accession chapter with it had been closed. He also noted that Serbia had been a candidate country since 2012, but no real progress had been made in connection with its integration.

Szijjártó said this situation was the result of there always having been member states that had raised some sort of objection, blocked the process or were against making progress in those countries’ accession.

“And interestingly enough, these member states . were never accused by anyone of being pro-Russia or pro-Putin, no one called them Kremlin propagandists and no one said they’d end up on the wrong side of history,” Szijjártó said.

He said that just as these member states had the right to express their opinion on enlargement, Hungary also had a right to apply a carefully considered approach, taking into consideration the interests of the EU, in connection with Ukraine.

Szijjártó called for the urgent completion of the open accession chapters with Montenegro, starting the third chapter of talks with Serbia and opening the actual accession process with North Macedonia and Albania.

The minister also reiterated Hungary’s support for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s, Georgia’s and Moldova’s EU integration aspirations.

Fidesz: European leaders should represent European interests

It is time European leaders represented European interests instead of those of others, ruling Fidesz’s communications director said on Tuesday in reaction to recent remarks by the US secretary of state on the war in Ukraine.

In a video on Facebook, István Hollik played a clip of Antony Blinken saying that 90 percent of the United States’ security assistance had been spent in the US, making it “a win-win that we need to continue”.

Hollik said it was “insensitive” of Blinken to talk about the war in Hungary’s neighbouring country as a “win-win” when there were a hundred people dying in the conflict each day.He added that Blinken’s statement “also makes it clear that continuing the war is simply in America’s financial interest”.

Meanwhile, “Europe’s leadership is lying low” and echoing the United States’ arguments without seeking the opinion of the people, and forcing war instead of peace, Hollik said.

“That’s why change is needed in Brussels,” he said. “It’s time European leaders finally represented European interests, and not the interests of others.”

Read also:

PM Szijjártó: Discrimination of Western Balkans unacceptable

szijjártó

Hungary belongs to the pro-enlargement camp in the European Union and considers the “discrimination” against the Western Balkans “unacceptable”, the foreign minister said ahead of a meeting of the General Affairs Council in Brussels on Tuesday.

Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook that in recent years an “anti-enlargement atmosphere has prevailed”, and none of the Western Balkans countries had been given a proper chance to advance in the accession process.

“Hungary believes that the EU needs the impetus and freshness that the countries of the Western Balkans would bring,” he said.

The accession process should progress based on the individual countries’ performance and not on “artificial, tactical considerations”, he added.

Szijjártó said that starting accession talks with Ukraine would be “irresponsible” as the European Commission had not prepared the groundwork. Neither the EU nor Ukraine were well-prepared “for mutually beneficial and well-structured accession talks”, he added.

“At the same time, the countries of the Western Balkans have been waiting for years; they are well-prepared, so it’s utterly incomprehensible why certain member countries are blocking their progress,” he said.

Read also:

Ukraine accession can threaten livelihood of European people?

István Nagy in Kyrgyzstan

Ukraine’s accession to the European Union would compromise the livelihood of producers of other member states as “European farmers cannot compete with Ukrainian estates of hundreds of thousands of hectares owned by Western capitalists and which are governed by far less stringent regulations,” Hungary’s minister of agriculture said in Brussels late on Monday.

Following a meeting of his EU counterparts, István Nagy said it was regrettable that the European Commission had not assessed the impact of Ukraine’s possible EU entry, adding that Ukraine would be on track to receive 30 percent of common agricultural funds and other member states would see a significant reduction in their subsidies.

Nagy said the impacts of a possible Ukraine entry were now “tangible” for farmers in countries neighbouring it since “trade obstacles were removed and Ukraine has become a part of the internal market”. Increased imports from Ukraine had led to difficulties, he said, and “EU members bordering Ukraine couldn’t rely on help from the European Commission.” The EU’s import ban on Ukrainian produce was removed at harvest time, which “indicates total incompetence”, he added.

The minister said the EC was threatening Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia with infringement procedures over their measures introduced in response to the EU’s lifting the import ban, adding that Hungary had received notice of the impending procedure.

Concerning the meeting, Nagy said participants were not in agreement concerning a Commision proposal on new GMO technologies, and he noted the Hungarian government’s position that more time was needed for a proper solution because “nothing must be allowed to jeopardise food security”.

Decisions concerning such technologies, as well as determining what kind of crops should be produced and distributed, were “issues of national sovereignty”, the minister said, adding that “consumers are entitled to know what they buy and what they eat”.

Concerning a proposal on reducing pesticides, Nagy said “mandatory reductions introduced under the lawnmower principle … as well as prohibitions affecting other sensitive areas” would seriously endanger food security in Europe.

The proposal, he said, was “irresponsible and unacceptable”. “It isn’t necessary to make new rules … for goals that can be met under effective regulations and through existing practices,” he said. “Farming should be left to Europe’s farmers.”

Meanwhile, the minister said his counterparts supported a proposal on precisely labeling the origin of honey produce on jars. “It will be easier for buyers to find high quality Hungarian honey produce … and support not only Hungarian bee keepers but the preservation of biodiversity,” Nagy said. Indicating the origin of the product will also help “action against honey of dubious origin imported from third countries,” he added.

Read also:

Hungarian foreign minister meets Ukraine counterpart

Hungarian foreign minister meets Ukraine counterpart in Brussels

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, who met Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Brussels on Monday, said on Facebook that Hungary did not see its stance on Ukraine’s EU accession bid as a tactical issue.

Szijjártó said that whereas a meeting in person with Kuleba had not taken place since the outbreak of the war, they had kept in regular contact with the aim of improving Hungary-Ukraine ties.

Referring to the restriction of the rights of the Hungarian national minority in Ukraine, Szijjártó said “this cast a shadow on bilateral relations”, adding that Hungary demanded the restoration of conditions pertaining in 2015.

He noted that Ukraine’s EU ambitions were discussed.

“For us this isn’t a tactical issue but a decision of historic proportions regarding the future of the entire European Union,” he said.

The minister said the European Commission had no clue what effect Ukraine’s EU membership would have on the bloc. ‘It’s enough to think back to the intractable problems the Commission’s decision on grain transit and Ukraine scrapping the licensing requirement for lorries,” he said.

Szijjártó added, moreover, that the Commission had not prepared the ground for ensuring that Ukraine pursued mutually beneficial accession talks.

As we wrote on Sunday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met and exchanged a few words at the inauguration ceremony of Javier Milei, Argentina’s new president, in Buenos Aires – video here

Hungary not to ‘give in to pressure’

The Hungarian government will “continue to make its decisions in line with European and national values” and “will not give in to pressure from anyone, whether in the form of bribery or pledges,” Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook on Monday.

Ahead of “historic meetings affecting Europe’s future” to be held in Brussels this week, Szijjártó said there were signs of “appalling political and media pressure”. “The European political and media elite obviously mixes up completely different dimensions trying to resolve historical and strategic issues through tactical deals,” he said, but added “they will not succeed, obviously, we will not give our consent.”

Debates between foreign ministers of the EU and in the general affairs council will focus on Ukraine, he said, adding that “a large part of EU politicians seek to pass decisions that are largely unprepared for and lack a strategic consensus.”

Speaking at a press conference after a meeting of the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council, Szijjártó said was under “tremendous political and media pressure” to approve the start of EU accession talks with Ukraine “despite the situation not being suitable for this right now”.

According to a ministry statement, Szijjártó said the pressure on Hungary was “unacceptable”, and he vowed that the country would not give up its national interests or the right to make its own sovereign decisions.

“We don’t accept being pressured, and we’ll also resist any attempts at blackmail…” Szijjártó said. “And I’d like to make it clear that we continue to refuse to conflate historical-strategic and tactical dimensions.”

“This is not a tactical position on our part,” he said, arguing that the question of when Ukraine could begin accession talks would have “serious historic consequences, too”.

The minister said any decision in connection with Ukraine’s potential accession talks could only be made after a preparatory phase, adding however that the conditions for these preparations were not in place.

He said the European Commission’s assessment that Ukraine had met four of the seven pre-conditions for talks was incorrect.

Hungary, he said, supported looking at mutually beneficial ways to enhance cooperation with Ukraine, adding that EU membership was not the only option. Deciding on starting accession talks now would be “irresponsible”, Szijjártó said, arguing that it was impossible to know the effects of such a decision.

He cited the effects of the EU’s resolutions on opening transit corridors for Ukrainian grain and exempting Ukrainian hauliers from seeking permits before entering bloc, saying the EU “could not salvage what was salvageable”.

Meanwhile, he said the Hungarian government had still not approved allocating an additional 500 million euros from the European Peace Facility for weapons deliveries to Ukraine, arguing that Kyiv’s list of international war sponsors still contained Hungarian entities and individuals, mainly linked to OTP Bank.

Asked to comment on Ukraine’s amended law on minorities, Szijjártó said Hungary and Transcarpathian ethnic Hungarian organisations would assess the legislation, adding it was already clear that it had failed not restore the rights minorities had been gradually stripped of since 2015.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said that on Monday afternoon, he will meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, and Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for Euro-Atlantic integration.

Also interesting: What will Putin say? Hungary manufactures combat vehicles for Ukraine

Traffic on Hungarian roads is heavy, so trucks heading to Ukraine are diverted to Romania

M0 Hungary Budapest traffic cars transport hungarian motorway

The measure does not apply to passenger cars, but heavy traffic at the exit points sometimes causes congestion.

Due to congestion at the border crossing points on the Ukrainian-Hungarian border, at the Borsókút rest area at km 82 on the M3 motorway towards Vásárosnamény, at the Geleji rest area at km 142, the police are diverting truck traffic to Ukraine and directing trucks to the M35 – M4 motorway route, towards the Nagykerek border crossing, according to a statement by Útinform on Monday morning. The measure does not apply to passenger cars, but vehicles are sometimes congested at the exit points due to heavy traffic.

As we wrote today Bus drivers’ strike could cause huge chaos in Hungary on Monday.

Traffic is also heavy on the roads leading to Budapest, with saturated lanes

  • on the access section of the M3 motorway,
  • on the main road 10 in Solymár,
  • on the main road 11 at Leányfalu
  • and main road 51 in the Dunaharaszti area.

In Komárom-Esztergom county, the section between Tardos and Bikol on the road between Süttő and Vértestolna is still impassable due to trees and tree felling. The village of Pilisszentlélek is raining on this section, but local residents are being let off.

This is what the roads will look like in Hungary today – December 11, 2024

Overcast, cloudy, and foggy in the capital and east of the Danube, with drizzle in the Szombathely and Csorna areas, Útinform says.

The pavement of expressways and main and secondary roads is mostly salty and sometimes wet due to preventive protection.

Visibility is moderate in the northern central hills, in the central areas of the Great Plain and in the Tárnok area, with visibility between 100-300 m.Fog patches near Bicske and Szentendre make driving difficult, while in Fejér, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok and Csongrád-Csanád counties, humidity is reported.

In the Tapolca area, southerly winds are moderate (30-39 km/h), while elsewhere the winds are light or calm.

Temperatures vary between -2 and +6 degrees C.

As we wrote before, paid parking zones in Budapest are in total disarray

VIDEO: Ukrainian President Zelensky persuaded PM Orbán in Buenos Aires?

Viktor Orbán Zelensky

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met and exchanged a few words as suggested by photos and footage made at the inauguration ceremony of Javier Milei, Argentina’s new president, in Buenos Aires on Sunday.

Asked by MTI, Bertalan Havasi, the prime minister’s press chief, quoted Orbán as telling Zelensky that “members of the European Union are in continuous talks” concerning the subject of Ukraine’s EU integration. The talk between the two leader lasted only 20 seconds and came after they were put next to each other before taking the official inauguration photo. The government-close media says Zelensky tries to persuade Orbán to support Ukraine’s EU integration. Therefore, he uses even ‘pathetic’ methods.

Government: Ukraine’s EU accession ‘EUR 183 billion issue’

Ukraine’s EU integration “is a 70,000 billion forint issue”, yet “Brussels would make a decision with unprecedented speed and without giving sufficient information”, a state secretary of the prime minister’s cabinet office told public radio on Sunday.

Csaba Dömötör said it was not clear “why some decision makers and out of what expectations would they want to see Ukraine in the EU before other countries having a candidate status for decades.” “The most serious questions are yet to be answered,” he added.

Referring to press reports based on a leaked document Dömötör said Ukraine’s full membership would involve the EU giving 186 billion euros to that country while “Europe has already been Ukraine’s greatest financer”.

The EU “fails to provide an official answer as to how Ukraine’s membership would impact the peoples of each member state,” Dömötör insisted, adding that the leaked document suggested that “most countries now receiving subsidies from the EU would become net contributors.” As a member, Ukraine would be the EU’s largest agricultural producer and each country would see 20 percent less direct agricultural subsidies, he said. Dömötör insisted that Ukraine’s accession would serve the interests of large Ukrainian agricultural companies “often owned by businesses overseas” rather than the interests of European farmers. It has not been clarified what compensation European farmers, whose situation will become “extremely difficult”, would receive, the state secretary said.

Read also:

  • What will Putin say? Hungary manufactures combat vehicles for Ukraine – Read more HERE
  • Orbán: Ukraine is corrupt, Hungary will not be mixed nation

Hungarian haulers will demonstrate until 2024

Hungarian haulers will demonstrate until 2024_1

Hungarian hauliers will start a demonstration on Monday at the Záhony border crossing with Ukraine in protest against the extension of an EU exemption for Ukrainian truckers to transit EU countries with no additional permission, the secretary of the hauliers association MKFE said.

As a result of the permission’s extension until June 2024 on the pretext of humanitarian deliveries, the number of Ukrainian hauliers on Hungary’s roads has gone up by 30 percent while the number of local truckers dropped by 4 percent, Tivadar Arvay told MTI by phone on Saturday. “Because of the Ukrainian truckers, several hundred Hungarian entrepreneurs are on the verge of bankruptcy,” he said.

EU laws do not apply to non-member Ukraine’s hauliers who work a lot cheaper and “destroy the hauliers of the logistics sectors of member states”, said Arvay, adding that they would join with their demonstration their Polish and Slovak peers.

He said they had asked the EU to review its permission because Ukrainian hauliers “have long appeared in the European Union for business purposes beyond the original goal”.

Read also:

  • Brutal fuel price hike comes from January in Hungary – Read more HERE
  • Budapest-Vienna railway connection to be restored with many changes – Details in THIS article

Government: Ukraine’s new law far from restoring 2015 minority rights

Zelensky president Ukraine

The Hungarian government will “thoroughly examine” legislation passed by Ukraine’s parliament on Friday, but “it is already clear that the law is far from restoring the 2015 rights” of the Hungarian minority, Tamás Menczer, the foreign affairs state secretary, said on Facebook.

The Hungarian government will monitor implementation of the new law, Menczer said. Late on Friday, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a law on ethnic minorities aimed to restore their earlier rights in a number of areas, with the exception of ethnic Russians.

Read also:

  • Hungary manufactures combat vehicles for Ukraine
  • Orbán: Ukraine is corrupt, Hungary will not be mixed nation – Read more HERE

Government: war in Ukraine has no military solution

War in Ukraine

Hungary is committed to the cooperation of the Visegrád Group and supports the EU integration of the Western Balkan countries, the defence minister said on Friday, after a meeting of the four countries’ defence ministers in Prague.

At a joint press conference with Jana Cernochova, his Czech counterpart, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said their meeting went to show that despite a difference of opinion at times “we are in agreement on the important matters”.

At the meeting, Hungary took over the presidency of the Central European Defence Cooperation (CEDC) from Czechia.

In connection with the Hungarian presidency starting in January, Szalay-Bobrovniczky said it would be built on the Czech presidency’s results and would continue the initiatives that presidency launched.

“Central Europe’s security is linked to the stability of the Western Balkans, the Hungarian CEDC will therefore put great emphasis on broadening high-level dialogue and practical cooperation between the two country groups as well as on promoting the EU integration of the Western Balkan countries,” said Szalay-Bobrovniczky.

Concerning the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the defence minister reiterated that Hungary supported a ceasefire, talks and peace. He said that the conflict had “no military solution” and suggested that the EU should revisit its Ukraine strategy.

Read also:

  • Former Ukrainian President planned meeting Orbán but wasn’t let out of Ukraine? – Read more HERE
  • Orbán: Ukraine is corrupt, Hungary will not be mixed nation

What will Putin say? Hungary manufactures combat vehicles for Ukraine

Lynx infanrty fighting vehicle Hungary

The manufacturing of Lynx combat vehicles has already started. It is a collaborative effort between Ukraine, Germany and Hungary. Further collaboration is anticipated in both manufacturing and servicing across the three nations.

Production of combat vehicles

Index reported that Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall, confirmed the initiation of combat vehicle production for Ukraine. The contract is set to be signed by Kyiv in the first months of 2024 at the latest. Papperger added:

After the contract is signed, we aim to complete the first (Fuchs) within six to seven months, and the first Lynx within 12 to 13 months.

However, the company wants to supply combat vehicles to Ukraine much earlier.. An ongoing collaboration involving Ukraine, Germany and Hungary is in progress, with the initial ten vehicles being produced through this joint effort. The company envisions that after a ramp-up phase, they will soon be able to manufacture a significant proportion of these vehicles entirely in Ukraine.

Cooperation

According to reports, the German government has expressed its intention to grant the necessary export license for production. Rheinmetall is currently Ukraine‘s primary defence partner, with orders totalling around EUR 900 million last year and over EUR 2.5 billion this year. The company plans to deepen its collaboration by training experts capable of addressing any issues. This ensures that the vehicles will be serviced in Ukraine by specialists trained in Germany. Existing factories, well-protected over the past two years, will be repurposed for combat vehicle production, with no plans for new plant construction.

Lynx plant in Hungary

We have reported HERE that Rheinmetall’s Lynx plant was inaugurated in August in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary. Népszava also notes that Hungary is set to be the first to deploy this cutting-edge combat vehicle, considered the most modern in Europe, as part of the Hungarian Defence Forces’ force development programme. The vehicles boast advanced electronics and technology. In March of the previous year, the German concern founded a joint company with the 1iG Group owned by Gellért Jászai, anticipating collaborative business development in IT services, production digitalisation, battlefield private networks, defence forces’ digitalisation and space technology. Hungary’s N7 Nemzeti Védelmi Ipari Innovation Holding has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Italian arms manufacturer Beretta on ammunition production in Hungary, as detailed HERE.

Survey: Hungarians against importing this Ukrainian product

Fully 87 percent of respondents to a Nézőpont survey say Hungary should not allow genetically modified produce to be imported from Ukraine, the Nézőpont Institute said on Friday.

According to the phone survey of 1,000 adults conducted between December 4 and 6, only 5 percent said such Ukrainian imports should be permitted.

Referring to earlier surveys, Nézőpont said 62 percent of the Hungarian population opposed Kyiv’s endeavours to join the European Union, adding that their reservations may be rooted in their rejection of agricultural imports from Ukraine.

Nézőpont added that respondents who were against Ukrainian imports were “in the majority irrespective of political affiliation”.

Read also:

  • Orbán: Ukraine is corrupt, Hungary will not be mixed nation – Read more HERE

Orbán: Ukraine is corrupt, Hungary will not be mixed nation

Orbán_Ukraine is corrupt, Hungary will not be mixed nation

Ukraine’s integration into the European Union “is extremely untimely”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told the French weekly Le Point in an interview published on Friday. Orbán said accession was not being prepared adequately, and its structure did not ensure “it will bring in more than it costs”, Orbán said in a wide-ranging interview covering migration, NATO’s role, a joint European defence system and the EP elections.

Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries in the world

Ukraine “is one of the most corrupt countries in the world and it is not ready for EU accession,” he said.

Hungary, as Ukraine’s neighbour, “knows exactly what’s going on there, no matter what they think in Paris, Brussels or the Hague,” Orbán said.

He rejected the charge that Hungary was vetoing EU initiatives. “Let’s just say we don’t consent to them.”

Ukraine’s EU membership would burden the other member states, which would have to pay more contributions, he said. France, he added, would have to contribute 3.5 billion euros more every year than they had done so far.

Folding in Ukrainian agriculture into the EU system would “ruin” the sector in other countries, he warned.

Orbán proposed establishing a strategic partnership with Ukraine, saying this would open possibilities to signing agreements on agriculture, tariffs and security.

“I agree with elevating cooperation, but not with membership,” he said.

Regarding the Hungarian minority in Europe, Orbán said minority rights were not up for negotiation. Ukraine must respect those rights, regardless of their accession plans, he said.

Also, the matter did not depend on whether the EU would pay the 10 billion euros it has been withholding from Hungary, Orbán said. “Technical issues such as finances must not be mixed up with historic challenges.”

He said more than two-thirds of Hungarians were opposed to starting accession talks with Ukraine – as was the country’s parliament.

Orbán noted he had never supported sanctions against Russia, “as it would be hard to find an example in European history when sanctions worked.”

Europeans “betrayed”

He insisted Europeans had been “betrayed” on the issue of badly phrased, badly implemented” sanctions.

“How do you explain that although Russia is under sanctions, the US has doubled its purchases of nuclear fuels? When we talk about sanctions, others – especially the US – circumvent them and conclude successful business deals.”

Asked about his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Orbán said: “Russia is a different country in terms of its history, politics and geography . It can’t be compared with Europe . where freedom is one of the fundamental values.”

He said preserving unity, rather than freedom, was the key issue. “We can’t expect Russia to be like Europe,” he said.

“The question is whether our differences stop us from cooperating,” he said, adding that such logic would make cooperation impossible “with two-thirds of the planet”. “Russia is here and it’s strong,” he said.

Orbán said that as he grew up in a communist country he had experienced a “dichotomy” that put the West on the one side and the Soviet Union on the other. He said he wanted to avoid a resurgence of an approach of “us against the world”.

Hungary will not support mixing cultures

Concerning migration, the prime minister said: “Hungarians may not necessarily follow the examples of other countries such as France. We cannot be fully assured that mixing cultures will be any better than our traditional society,” he said.

Put to him that he could help the Italian government handle illegal migration, Orbán said he was “trying to be as helpful as possible” but the European Union’s new migration pact “simply went in the wrong direction”.

He said he was experienced on the issue of migration and was “proud” that “no migrants are in Hungary”. “Every now and then some will manage to get into the country, but sooner or later they are pushed back,” he said.

He said the Hungarian government was working to ensure that nobody could enter without a Hungarian permit, and this practice “should be copied by every European state”.

Asylum seekers are required to stay outside Hungary and wait for the Hungarian authorities to assess their request, he noted. “This is the only good formula for handling illegal migration.” He warned that if illegal migrants entered Europe before being granted legal entry, “they may never be sent back”.

Asked what he would do if Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, asked Hungary for a plane to take illegal migrants back to Africa, Orbán said: “I have made that proposition at least a hundred times.”

Concerning the EU’s migration policy, Orbán said if the European Commission declared a migration emergency, Hungary would be required to accommodate migrants or pay a fine. “I am willing to pay if the EU takes over at least 30 percent of our border control costs . we have spent over 2 billion euros,” he said.

London’s secession has weakened central Europe

Meanwhile, Orbán said several countries in Europe had a “democracy deficit”, with “people considering politics as something for the elite and . turning to movements outside the elite”. He said Europe was dominated by “two kinds of dynamics: one is centrist and the other focused on national sovereignty . when they are balanced the EU works well.” He added, however, that the equilibrium had been upended by Brexit and “London’s secession has weakened central Europe”, resulting in “a strengthening of sometimes extremist elements advocating national sovereignty”.

Concerning the rule of law, Orbán said the EU Treaties did not include a definition. “Rather than the states jointly coming up with a definition, the rule of law has become a weapon in the hands of those working to build a more centralised EU,” he said.

He noted that the EU had launched a rule-of-law mechanism against Hungary when ruling Fidesz quit the European People’s Party. “We are innocent but also vulnerable,” Orbán said, adding that the rule of law “should be taken more seriously and not used as a political weapon”.

Hungary’s constitution honours the separation of the branches of government as well as religious freedoms, Orbán noted.

On another subject, Orbán said his Fidesz party was in consultations with Meloni’s European Conservatives and Reformers group, and “Budapest would be glad to join either before or after next summer’s EP elections.”

He said the Identity and Democracy group of parties was also “close to Fidesz” and regretted that the two groups had not yet negotiated a cooperation deal. “Unless the non-traditional right-wing parties are willing to cooperate, we will never have a majority,” Orbán said.

He said the EP elections could bring about a turnaround because “the liberal elite, the Brussels bureaucrats, no longer represent the EU’s fundamental goals”. While the EU had been “a pledge of peace and welfare”, currently “there is no peace and life has not improved”. “The time has come for parties outside mainstream politics, the non-traditional right-wing parties, to take the reins and restore peace and security.” the prime minister said.

Read also:

  • Politico: EU politicians shocked by Orbán’s threats
  • Former Ukrainian President planned meeting Orbán but wasn’t let out of Ukraine?

Hungarian FM has talks with head of Ukrainian President’s Office

szijjártó east west cooperation

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó had talks by phone with Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian President’s Office, at the initiative of the Ukrainian party, the Hungarian foreign ministry’s spokesman told MTI.

Mate Paczolay cited Yermak as informing the foreign minister about Ukraine’s plans to adopt “several important pieces of legislation”.

Szijjártó and Yermak were in agreement that bilateral ties called for improvement and decided on a personal meeting to follow.

At the talks, Yermak suggested a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Szijjártó said the Hungarian side was open to the proposal, but added that “it will only have a point if there is a chance that the talks have a positive outcome. It requires thorough preparations and preliminary talks.”

Read also:

Orbán to meet French President Macron in Paris

PM Orbán and Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron will meet Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for a working dinner in Paris on Thursday, Orbán’s press chief confirmed.

According to information released by the French president’s office, the two leaders will discuss issues on the agenda of the European Council meeting on 14 and 15 December, including European support to Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, and matter concerning European Union enlargement. EU security and defence, and the review of the 2021-2027 financial framework will also be discussed.

Read also: