Orban says he will not allow Ukraine to join the EU

4 June 00:26

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he would make every effort to prevent Ukraine from joining the European Union. Otherwise, he will be “tormented by his conscience.” This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to the Hungarian prime minister’s Facebook page.

According to Orban, EU enlargement is a noble idea, but not when it comes to Ukraine’s accession. After all, he said, for the “Brussels bureaucracy” it is “a favorable deal in a lost war.”

“Ukraine will suck up every euro, forint and zloty that we spent on strengthening European families, European farmers and European industry. Of course, bureaucrats don’t care where the money of Europeans goes,” the Hungarian prime minister said.

He claims that in ten years’ time, “he will not be able to answer to his conscience, to his grandchildren and to his country” if he does not do “everything now to protect Hungary and the European Union from the Brussels dream of Ukraine’s accession.”

“So, despite the heat and the approaching holidays, we must talk about VOKS (the Hungarian opinion poll on their attitude towards Ukraine’s accession to the EU – ed.) Every hour of every day, so that as many Hungarians as possible can express their opinion about the country and the Union they want to live in for the next decades,” Orban added.

In March, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced that he intends to organize a public opinion poll on Ukraine’s membership in the EU.

Similar surveys in Hungary have been conducted by mail since 2010 and are called national consultations. They cover issues ranging from migration to LGBTQ rights. The questions in such surveys are formulated in an encouraging way, and the vast majority of expected answers are in line with the government’s position. Thus, the opposition has long considered such polls a means of propaganda.

Hungarians have been asked about Ukraine before

“Ukrainian issues” appeared in a consultative survey at the end of 2023, and they again concerned Ukraine’s membership in the EU, military aid, financial assistance, and imports of Ukrainian agricultural products.

Traditionally, for such commissioned polls, the result was almost unanimous. For example, on the question of joint EU-Ukraine arms supplies, 99.32% of respondents allegedly chose the option of “ceasefire and peace instead of arms supplies.” 99% of the respondents opposed Ukraine’s accession to the EU, and the same number spoke out against the import of Ukrainian grain.

Why does the Hungarian government conduct such polls?

It is worth recalling that these polls are not legally binding. In addition, less than 20 percent of the adult population of the country usually participate in them by mail. However, those who respond clearly agree with the government’s position.

And this becomes an argument for the Hungarian government. These polls strengthen Hungary’s position at the European level, demonstrating a supposed “national consensus” on political issues.

In other words, Prime Minister Viktor Orban wants to get confirmation and “legitimization” of his policy before Brussels. Moreover, he is usually alone at EU summits.

It should be noted that Orban has previously accused Europe of financing a “hopeless war” in Ukraine

As a reminder, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban immediately went on an international tour, which he calls a “peacekeeping mission,” after Hungary took over the presidency of the European Union. First, he visited Kyiv for the first time in many years, then went to Moscow a day later, and also reached China. Orbán labels his visit to China as the same “peace mission.”

At the same time, Orban continues to stubbornly label his information materials with the hashtag and the mark #HU24EU, which means the Hungarian presidency of the European Union.

During his “tour,” Orban gave an interview to the German tabloid Bild, during which he stated that in the next 2-3 months there would be more victims of the war in Ukraine than in the last six months. Read what such statements by the Hungarian leader may mean in view of yesterday’s large-scale rocket attack on Ukraine in the article by Kommersant Ukrainsky Komersant.Info “What Orban’s ‘peacekeeping tour’ and his statements about the increase in the number of victims in Ukraine in the coming months may mean”

What is Orban up to and how to explain his unexpected “peacekeeping” activity? Political experts interviewed by Kommersant Ukrainian Komersant.Info are skeptical about the Hungarian leader’s real intentions and capabilities.

Дзвенислава Карплюк
Editor

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