Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has promised to block Ukraine on its way to membership in the European Union and NATO.
Arriving at the NATO summit on 25 June, when asked by journalists about the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Orban said: “NATO has no business with Ukraine. Ukraine is not a member of NATO, and neither is Russia. My task is to keep it that way.”
Before that, Orban called Ukraine’s possible EU membership a threat of war for the European Union.
“The European Union was founded to bring peace and prosperity to its member states. Accepting a country at war with Russia would immediately draw the EU into direct conflict. It is unfair to expect any member state to take this risk,” the Hungarian prime minister wrote on social network X on the night of 25 June.
On 26 June, EU leaders are meeting in Brussels for a key summit. It will take place amid internal disagreements over Ukraine’s bid to join the EU and Hungary’s veto in the process.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry criticised Hungarian authorities earlier this month for a “communication line that demonises Ukraine and President Zelensky”.
In March, Hungarian EU Affairs Minister Janos Boka suggested stopping aid to Ukraine and turning it into a “buffer zone” between Russia and the EU.