Hungary's Orbán reveals reason behind blocking Ukraine's EU accession talks
Orbán says EU is being partial
We welcome and consider it important that a meaningful debate on Ukraine's accession to the EU can take place in the Hungarian Parliament. There's a lot at stake here. This issue affects the future of the whole of Europe, he said.
In the EU, we are tempting fate, there is no substantive debate on the issue, he said. He recalled that Ukraine was granted candidate status after only four months while it did not meet the conditions. He then listed examples of how many years current candidates and already joined EU members had to wait for candidate status.
This is blatant bias. And it destroys the authority of the EU institutions, he said, referring to the start of the accession process in Ukraine.
In his view, the issue should be decided in the light of whether it is of benefit to the EU and Hungary in particular. A quick admission would have unforeseeable consequences.
Accepting Ukraine on the fast track is not in the interests of Hungary or the EU,
he underlined. If the EU rules are not taken seriously, the European Union will cease to exist, Orbán warned, and then listed the most important criteria on the basis of which accession can be assessed.
Ukraine fails to meet even a single condition
According to the Commission, four out of the seven criteria are met, and on this basis Ukraine should not have been granted candidate status, he said. But if we look at the fulfilment of these four conditions, they are not met in practice either, he added.
In 2015, Hungarians and other communities were stripped of the rights they previously enjoyed. Give back these rights,
Orbán called on Kyiv. We are not asking for a new law, we are asking for the previous law to be reinstated in Ukraine, he suggested.
Ukraine cannot be further from meeting membership conditions, he added.
What would Ukraine's EU membership mean for Hungary and the EU - this is the next important question. No one can say, he said, because Ukraine is at war and there is no end in sight.
EU funding is based on population as well as territory. Whether or not the millions of Ukrainian refugees should be counted upon Ukraine's accession to the EU is unclear, he explained.
There are two areas of experience where the EU has opened up economic opportunities for Ukraine: agriculture and transport.
Protective measures were needed in these areas to prevent irreparable damage.
There is still no talk of Ukraine's accession, but tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands, of Hungarian livelihoods could be ruined, he pointed out.
The numbers
The EU budget will have to pay €190 billion extra over 7 years to catch up Ukraine. This is 17% of the total budget, which would be swallowed up by a single country,
said Orbán.
Ukrainian farmers can claim €93 billion in EU agricultural support over the 7-year cycle. France is currently the biggest beneficiary, with €65 billion. This means that Ukraine would receive ten times more than Hungary is entitled to, he explained.
The Americans have bought into the Ukrainian agricultural sector up to their necks, so the bulk of any EU agricultural subsidies to Ukraine would go to the U.S., he said.
Everyone outside Ukraine would become a net contributor, or 20% of agricultural subsidies would be taken away from everyone - these are the solutions the PM says would be on the table if the funds were to be paid to Ukraine.
Ukraine should be given €87 billion from cohesion funds, three times more than Hungary, he said.
It's absurd, ridiculous and frivolous, so the government has no intention of supporting it [the accession talks],
said Orbán, adding that this should be considered a matter of national interest.
In this form, Ukraine's membership is in stark contrast to Hungary's interests. Ukraine can and should be helped, but not in this way - no one wants Hungary to be ruined, he added.
Cover photo: MTI Photo/Zoltán Máthé
