Fidesz would have parliament declare that Ukraine is not ready to join the EU

Ruling parties Fidesz-KDNP would like the governing majority of the Hungarian Parliament to state specifically what Viktor Orbán had already referred to earlier, namely that Ukraine has not fulfilled the conditions for EU accession, that the EU's enlargement policy must remain an objective, performance-based process, and that a strategic debate is needed on all elements of the EU's policy towards Ukraine. In this context, the leaders of the two parties submitted a draft resolution last night.

According to the motion, the European Commission's proposal to open accession negotiations with Ukraine is unprepared and does not take into account Hungarian interests. The governing parties say the Parliament must condemn any political and financial pressure that would force Hungary to change its sovereign position.

"Now is not the time to play games," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Tuesday, reacting to Viktor Orbán's desire to remove the issue of Ukraine's accession to the EU from next week's summit agenda, Politico reports.

During her visit to Ljubljana, Baerbock urged Orbán to drop his veto on the start of accession talks with Ukraine and the approval of new aid to Kyiv as soon as possible. In a letter sent on Monday, the Hungarian Prime Minister suggested to the President of the European Council that the issue of Ukraine's accession to the EU should be removed from the agenda of next week's summit in Brussels.

"If we are in a situation where peace in Europe is under attack, we must do everything we can, every day, every hour of every day, to protect our people, and even more so the people of Ukraine, as best we can."

– said the German Foreign Minister. The EU is expected to discuss the opening of accession negotiations and the €50 billion in financial assistance for Ukraine at the summit on 14-15 December. However, this requires the approval of all 27 member states, including Hungary. Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon also criticised Orban at the press conference. She added that countries that have made reform efforts to join the EU should not become victims of national politics.

Péter Szijjártó reacted to the German Foreign Minister's statement on his Facebook page, saying that Baerbock "fundamentally misunderstands" the situation. "Hungary's position on Ukraine's accession to the European Union is well thought-out and well-founded, and there is no blackmail or even 'gamesmanship' in it", he wrote.

He added that they still do not see – neither the Hungarian people, nor the Hungarian parliament, nor the Hungarian government – why Europe would benefit from a "premature" start of negotiations with Ukraine. He said Ukraine was too far away from being ready for accession or even for negotiations on accession, adding that they will not change their position under any pressure. He reiterated Viktor Orbán's suggestion that "in order to maintain European unity, we should remove the proposal to start negotiations with Ukraine from the agenda of next week's Brussels meetings".