US President Donald Trump was able to persuade Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to give up blocking negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, Politico quoted diplomatic sources as saying.
How Trump influenced the Hungarian prime minister is not specified. Orban himself has not publicly commented on this information.
Earlier, Orban repeatedly opposed Ukraine’s membership in the European Union, arguing that the country is not ready for accession, it does not have clear borders, and its integration would lead to an EU war with Russia.
Budapest has previously blocked EU initiatives to support Kiev and tried to prevent the extension of sanctions against Russia. At the same time, the Hungarian prime minister made it clear that he would support the accession of Moldova, which applied along with Ukraine.
According to Bloomberg, European politicians have asked Trump to influence Orban. Diplomats are now expressing hope that the deadlock over the Ukrainian candidacy can be overcome in the coming months. A decision to open accession talks between Kiev and Chisinau with the EU could be taken soon.
Relations between Kiev and Budapest escalated after Ukrainian attacks on the Druzhba pipeline, which Hungary uses to receive Russian oil. Orban saw this as a threat and said Ukraine would not get into the EU “through blackmail, explosions and threats”. In response, Kiev called on Hungary to diversify its oil supplies.