Ukraine’s EU Membership Would Bring Complete Criminal Chaos to Hungary and the EU

If, according to Brussels' will, Ukraine joins the European Union, then member states - including Hungary - must prepare for the worst: Ukrainian organized crime will take root, gangs running prostitution rings will spread, and we will be flooded with drugs and illegal weapons. Ukraine is essentially a mafia state, ranking among the worst in Europe for crime, and its EU membership would pose severe security risks.

Police checking the crime scene after a bombing in Lviv (Photo: MTI/EPA/Mikola Tisz)

Collapsing state unable to control its underworld

The Ukrainian state is incapable of handling local crime syndicates, and dismantling one or two criminal networks is merely the tip of the iceberg. A case in point: Ukrainian authorities recently dismantled a nationwide drug ring that produced nearly one ton of amphetamine and alpha-PVP per month. Authorities conducted over 230 searches in 20 regions across the country, arrested more than 60 individuals, and dismantled 19 drug laboratories belonging to the criminal gang involved in the production and distribution of psychotropic substances.

One of the criminal organizations within this network maintained smuggling routes to import chemicals necessary for drug production from Poland.

These compounds were stored in specialized Ukrainian warehouses and distributed to five drug cartels, which then manufactured alpha-PVP and amphetamines in Kyiv, as well as in the Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, and Cherkasy regions. This paints a clear picture of what we could face if these cartels established themselves in Hungary through Ukraine’s EU membership. There is a real risk that Hungary would be flooded with Ukrainian drugs.

Hungary could be inundated by Ukrainian drugs 

Arról nem is beszélve, hogy micsoda problémát okozhat az (pláne ukrán EU-tagság esetén), hogy egy éve Volodimir Zelenszkij ukrán elnök aláírta a cannabis orvosi célú használatát engedélyező törvényt. Magyarország szempontjából sem mindegy, keleti szomszédunknál milyen szabályozás van érvényben a marihuánát illetően. Egy olyan országról beszélünk, ahol háború dúl, teljes a káosz, a gazdaság, az egészségügyi és szociális ellátórendszer romokban. Nagy a veszélye annak, hogy Ukrajnában kettős drogpiac fog kialakulni – hívta fel a figyelmet a Mandiner megkeresésére Téglásy Kristóf, a Drogkutató Intézet stratégiai igazgatója.

Adding to the concerns, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law a year ago allowing the medical use of cannabis. This raises serious concerns for Hungary, as our eastern neighbor’s regulations on marijuana will directly impact us. We are talking about a war-torn country in complete chaos, with a collapsed economy and a devastated healthcare and social system. There is a significant risk that Ukraine will develop a dual drug market, Kristof Teglasy, strategic director of the Drug Research Institute, told Mandiner. 

According to the expert, if mass cannabis smuggling attempts begin, it will inevitably impact Hungary, especially if our healthcare system is forced to treat addicts. Teglasy believes that in the future, there is a serious risk of large-scale marijuana smuggling from Ukraine to Hungary and the European Union, which would greatly boost the black market and worsen public safety.

A szakértő szerint ha tömegével próbálnak majd cannabisz átcsempészni, az idővel Magyarországra is hatással lehet, pláne, ha később a magyar egészségügynek kell ápolnia a függőket. Téglásy Kristóf úgy vélte, fennáll a veszélye annak, hogy a jövőben Ukrajnából nagy mennyiségben igyekeznek marihuánát juttatni Magyarországra és az Európai Unióba, ami alaposan fellendítheti a feketekereskedelmet és ronthat a közbiztonság helyzetén. 

Europe’s largest brothel

And if all this were not enough to deter Ukraine’s EU membership, we must also remember that Ukrainian organized crime has long been involved in prostitution. If Ukraine joins the European community, there is no doubt that even more victims and criminal gangs will arrive. As far back as 2012, Ukraine was dubbed “Europe’s Largest Brothel,” and since the war began, countless prostitutes and the gangs controlling them have flooded Europe. While Ukraine officially fights against prostitution, it does so only in words—because, in reality, the women only receive protection from police.

To make matters worse, there have been instances where senior officials from the migration police department covered up for prostitution rings operating in the capital and other regions.

The high-ranking officers were assisting a criminal network that exploited vulnerable women aged 18 to 30 as prostitutes and worked to recruit new girls for “escort services.” According to reports, this network operated across Ukraine and even trafficked women abroad. We can only repeat: Ukraine’s accession to the EU would cause unimaginable damage, a surge in crime, and severe security problems for Hungary and other member states.