Orban wants "strategic partnership" between the EU and Kiev
Kiev is not yet ready, the consequences are unclear: Hungary's head of government Orban continues to reject Ukraine's accession to the EU. Instead, he advocates a "gradual rapprochement". A "strategic partnership" would be suitable for this, according to Orban.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban continues to reject EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and instead proposes talks on a "strategic partnership". "It is not worth starting accession negotiations because we cannot answer the question of what the consequences of Ukraine's membership would be," Orban said in a radio interview. "I would be in favor of the European Union first concluding an agreement on a strategic partnership with Ukraine," Orban added.
Such an agreement with Ukraine could "take five to ten years" and give time for a gradual rapprochement, said the Hungarian head of government. "The gap is too big today." Orban's comments came after a meeting with EU Council President Charles Michel on Monday to prepare for the EU summit in mid-December. The background to this was a dispute over further support for Ukraine. Orban had threatened to block further financial aid for Kiev and the planned decision to start EU accession negotiations at the summit.
In a letter to Michel, Orban, who is the only top EU politician to have maintained his ties with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin despite the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, had previously called for European support for Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia to be put to the test. Diplomats accuse Orban of trying to blackmail the release of frozen EU funds for his country by blocking important EU decisions on Ukraine. The EU had frozen the funds due to rule of law problems in Hungary.
On Thursday, EU circles in Brussels announced that the EU Commission could release up to ten billion euros. This is almost half of the total blocked funds, which are mainly funds for regional development. However, Hungary still has to fulfill conditions for the partial release. By proposing a strategic partnership with Ukraine, Orban now appears to be seeking a further compromise.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has expressed opposition to Ukraine's EU accession negotiations, favoring instead discussions on a "strategic partnership" between Ukraine and the EU. Despite this, Orban acknowledges the potential benefits of such an agreement, stating that it could take five to ten years, providing a period for a gradual rapprochement between Hungary and Ukraine, given the current large gap between the two.
Source: www.ntv.de
