Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said today that “negotiations must not begin” on Ukraine joining the European Union as it is not ready yet.
Ukraine may start formal EU accession talks in December if it fulfils a number of conditions, according to a statement by the European Commission on Wednesday.
The Commission said Ukraine had shown remarkable “institutional strength” despite President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government jailing opposition leaders and cutting off access to critical media.
In addition, to gain EU membership, Kyiv needs to tackle corruption and minority rights, an issue that has been extremely difficult for Ukraine since tensions with its large Russian-speaking minority provoked the 2014 conflict in Donbass, which paved the way for a wider conflict with Russia that began last year. Hungary also frequently raises the issue of its national minorities in Ukraine.
Mr Orbán has previously made statements about what constitutes the territory and population of Ukraine, and as a result, Ukraine’s path to the EU is unequivocally closed:
Ukraine is in no way ready to negotiate.
Meanwhile, Slovakia, represented by new Prime Minister Robert Fico, has stopped supplying weapons, calling Ukraine “one of the most corrupt countries in the world.”
