"The question of Ukraine's accession to the European Union is certainly not a foregone conclusion. What we know is that there is no unity within the EU on the issue - that unity has dissipated," the Hungarian PM's political director told Kossuth Radio. Balazs Orban pointed out that Hungary clearly indicated at the EU summit that it does not agree with Ukraine membership, and that under the current conditions it considers the opening of accession negotiations to be misguided, premature, unjustified and unprepared.
According to the political director's calculations, there are at least 75 relevant points requiring unanimous decisions, therefore the process cannot progress, without Hungary's approval, and in the end the Hungarian Parliament will also have a final say.
We expressed our disagreement and left it to the 26 member states to take this decision.
The EU founding treaty is crystal clear, stating that EU enlargement requires the consent of member states, there's no way around it, and Hungary's rights within the bloc can only be restricted to a certain extent by procedural rules.
"That didn't even come up," he continued, "but rather, discussions centered on the seven conditions the EU had previously set as a prerequisite for granting candidate status thus far, of which Ukraine had fulfilled only four, according to the European Commission's own assessment, while Hungary sees none of them as having been fulfilled."
Under such circumstances, Balazs Orban called it untimely to move accession negotiations forward to the next phase.
He also said that Hungary's baseline position on the EU budget is that there is no need to amend the EU budget. "All issues can be addressed outside the budget or by an internal reshuffling within the existing budget. This is true for Ukraine's membership, as well as for the extra funding needed to cover the increased interest costs," he said, adding that despite this, several member states and certain EU institutions, such as European Commission leaders, believe that budget changes are needed.
Hungary is open to negotiations on this, but we have conditions.
Among these, he said that on the one hand, the Hungarian people's money cannot be given to Ukraine, and on the other, a strategic debate on financing Ukraine must be held, as the current strategy has failed. "And Hungary's contribution to the increased interest charges on the reconstruction fund resources should not even be considered until Hungary has access to the EU funds it is entitled to," he stressed. Hungary will not finance such additional burdens when Brussels is withholding funds for political reasons.
An extraordinary EU summit is likely to be held in the near future, so the contentious issues should be hammered out in the interim, the PM's political director said. "If this is successful, the budget will be amended, if not, the other member states will have to cover it from outside the budget," he concluded.
The budget amendment also includes additional funds for migration and for improving Europe's economic competitiveness, several points of which Hungary has already indicated its agreement on in principle, according to Balazs Orban.
However, there are conditions for supporting Ukraine if the bloc insists on including it in the budget. For example, the aid can be for a maximum period of up to one year and Hungary will not take on any charge increases for funds that are wrongfully withheld from her.
The politician stressed that reaching a 27-member state joint decision on the budget is contingent on how Hungary's proposals are dealt with by EU bodies in the period ahead of the EU summit, which means an intensive period of negotiations between Hungary and the European Commission, and between Hungary and the other member states will ensue. The outcome will determine the value of convening the next summit.
If there's no agreement, the other member states can resolve the issues important to them on an intergovernmental basis,
the Hungarian PM's political director concluded.
Cover photo: Balazs Orban, the PM's political director, speaks at the launch of his new book on the Hungarian connectivity strategy, at the Hunyadi Matyas Hall of the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) in Budapest on December 12, 2023 (Photo: MTI/Robert Hegedus)
