If Ukraine joins the EU, there will also be war.
(Baonghean.vn) - That was the statement of the Foreign Minister of Hungary - an EU member state. According to the above diplomat, Kiev is not suitable to join this bloc.
According to RT news agency, when speaking about the EU expansion proposal announced by the European Commission (EC) in Lisbon, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on November 8 that the conditions were simply not suitable for the European Union to consider membership for Ukraine.
“By allowing Ukraine to join, the EU will also be at war, which is obviously not what anyone wants. Enlargement should be aimed at spreading peace, not bringing war to the EU,” Szijjarto said, according to Hungarian media.
He said it would be “absurd” for Brussels to judge Ukraine’s progress on reforms, the rule of law or any other membership criteria amid the ongoing conflict.
“Yes, there is a war in Ukraine, so we can see that neither freedom of the press nor freedom of speech is practiced, we can see that elections are not held either,” Szijjarto noted.
Budapest's standing position is that Ukraine should restore the rights of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia to the level they had in 2015, before Kiev launched its attempt to strip Russian-speaking residents of their citizenship.
“Since, according to the European Commission, Ukraine does not meet the conditions for membership, we do not consider any further steps to be timely regarding accession negotiations with Ukraine,” the foreign minister concluded.
According to Mr. Szijjarto, the bloc is facing serious security and economic challenges and is getting weaker, so if the bloc wants to admit new members as a way to regain strength, it should instead turn to the Western Balkan countries - first of all, Serbia.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on November 8 recommended opening “accession talks” with both Ukraine and Moldova, and upgrading the former Soviet republic of Georgia to official candidate status.
According to an EC report, talks with Ukraine will begin after Kiev meets remaining demands related to fighting corruption, passing EU-compliant lobbying laws and “enhancing protections” for ethnic minorities.
The EU has not admitted any new members since Croatia in 2013. Earlier this year, Brussels outlined a rather vague plan to expand the bloc by 2030, targeting the remains of the former Yugoslavia, Albania, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
