EU member warns of 'hard veto' on Ukraine's accession
(Baonghean.vn) - Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced on December 16 that Budapest will block European Union (EU) negotiations on Ukraine's accession if the negotiations are going in a direction that harms Hungary's national interests.
According to Foreign Minister Szijjarto, the EU has decided to start accession talks with Ukraine; this is a decision of principle, without any practical significance. Hungary's top diplomat stressed that in case Brussels tries to insert "something" harmful to Hungary into the actual accession negotiations with Ukraine, Budapest will be forced to use its powerful tool - the veto.
Foreign Minister Szijjarto also said that the decision to launch negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU was "completely absurd", and stressed that Prime Minister Viktor Orban did not participate in the negotiations on this issue at the recently concluded EU Summit in Brussels. According to Foreign Minister Szijjarto, that was the best thing Prime Minister Orban could do in such a situation, as the leaders of the remaining 26 EU member states had firmly given the green light to Ukraine's accession process.
Hungary's foreign minister insisted that Budapest had nothing to do with the EU's decision and was not responsible for it, and was exempt from any consequences it might have. Szijjarto also denied that Hungary agreed not to veto the start of negotiations because the EU decided to release 10 billion euros ($10.9 billion) in cohesion funds for the country, citing Budapest's progress on judicial reform.
“We are not taking the tactical view that if we receive this money we will change because the reasons why we do not support the launch of accession talks with Ukraine are still the same,” Foreign Minister Szijjarto explained. Earlier, at the EU Summit, Prime Minister Orban stated that launching negotiations with Ukraine on EU accession is “absolutely meaningless”./.
