(Bloomberg) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is warning the European Union to drop efforts to open membership talks with Ukraine from the agenda of its leaders’ summit in Brussels next week.
“There are expectations that on this occasion the European Council can and must decide on starting accession negotiations with Ukraine,” according to Orban’s letter to European Council President Charles Michel dated Monday and seen by Bloomberg. “In view of the current level of political and technical preparations, these expectations are unfounded.”
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
This marks Orban’s second attempt to press the EU council chief to rethink the push to support Ukraine and comes at the time when the country is facing growing uncertainty about delivery of aid and financing from its Western allies. Opening membership talks with Ukraine requires the unanimous support of all 27 EU member states.
The new demands will only solidify Orban’s position as the EU’s chief antagonist. The Hungarian premier has undermined Western unity by sealing energy deals with Russia, trying to limit aid to Ukraine, delaying NATO expansion and publicly calling on Brussels to scrap economic sanctions imposed on Moscow.
Orban is also locked in a long-running legal battle with the EU over democratic backsliding. Brussels has suspended more than $30 billion of Hungary’s funding on rule of law and graft concerns — money the prime minister is negotiating to unlock after a prolonged recession and budget crunch.
Last month, Hungary’s leader asked Michel to hold a strategic discussion on the bloc’s approach toward Ukraine, now 21 months into the war with Russia. “I still believe the European Council is not in a position to take key decisions unless a consensus on our future strategy toward Ukraine is found,” Orban wrote in his latest letter.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
He also warned that bringing the topic to the table during next week’s meeting of EU leaders would “inevitably lead to failure” because of the “obvious lack of consensus.” The European Council didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Draft summit conclusions, also seen by Bloomberg, indicated that the leaders are aiming to agree “to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and with Moldova” when leaders meet in Brussels, with countries agreeing that a negotiating framework would only be adopted once remaining reform measures are completed. The European Commission has recommended the bloc formally open membership talks with Ukraine upon the completion of several reforms.
In his letter, Orban says the commission’s proposal would mark the end of the EU’s enlargement policy as an objective and merit-based instrument.
EU Backs Opening Ukraine Membership Talks With Conditions
In addition to opening membership talks, the Hungarian premier has been opposed to releasing further aid to Kyiv.
Orban’s letter is equally scathing on discussions about agreeing a new EU budget, saying that “discussions so far have been too much focused on the commission’s unsubstantiated, unbalanced and unrealistic proposal.”
Budapest isn’t alone in stalling the budget talks. Other European capitals have also urged Brussels to look for more spending leeway and savings within the current budget.
“A new, inventive and future-proof approach is needed” that “requires further efforts, additional time and a more comprehensive reflection,” the Hungarian premier wrote.
Read: Orban Targets EU in New Campaign With Key Funds Still Suspended
(Updates with more on Orban in the fourth and fifth paragraph.)
