At a public forum held in the city, the minister recounted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said that most Hungarian people support Ukraine’s EU membership. Szijjarto noted:
Fortunately, it is not up to the president of Ukraine, but the Hungarian people will make the decision on whether Ukraine can join the European Union,
Szijjarto stated firmly and went on to say:
We understand that the Tisza Party supports Ukraine’s accession to the EU. That makes sense, as the party belongs to the European People’s Party (EPP), the most pro-Ukraine political group in Europe. And we understand this even more because the Tisza Party is subordinate to Manfred Weber — who is the most pro-Ukraine politician in Europe.
Szijjarto underlined that Brussels has created a fast-track lane for Ukraine in the EU accession process, which would have two serious consequences for Hungary:
First, tens or even hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian workers would flood the Hungarian labor market, taking jobs away from tens or hundreds of thousands of Hungarians. Second, the notorious Ukrainian mafia could use Hungary as a gateway,
he warned. "We don’t want either of those in Hungary," he added. "We don’t want the Hungarian labor market to be overrun by hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian workers. And we don’t want the Ukrainian mafia to use Hungary as a transit hub."
And if the people don’t want this, they can very easily prevent it by participating in the Voks 2025 consultative vote and clearly expressing their opinion on the matter. Whatever position the Hungarian people take, that’s what we will represent,
he concluded.
In response to a journalist's question, Szijjarto also commented that if anyone has a realistic chance of brokering peace in Ukraine, it is U.S. President Donald Trump. He added that it would be very bad news for the world if the United States withdrew from the diplomatic peace process — although, he emphasized, this is not currently the case.
he said.
I seriously hope they remain part of the process. I understand that they want to allow more space for the warring parties to negotiate, but I also hope we can continue to count on their help in the coming days, weeks, and months,
he added.
Cover Photo: Hungary's Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto in Pecs (Photo: MTI)
