BUDAPEST, November 10. /TASS/. The Hungarian government will not yield to pressure from European Union leaders on the issue of Ukraine's intention to join the bloc and will not even bother discussing the matter with them, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Kossuth Radio.

He pointed out that his government had to "repel attacks from Brussels," including on Ukraine and the EU's migration policy. As for Kiev's intention to join the EU, he said that "this should not even be discussed." "Ukraine is as far from EU membership as Mako is from Jerusalem," Orban said, referring to a small Hungarian town in Csongrad-Csanad County near the border with Romania.

The prime minister reiterated that Hungary does not support the European Commission's proposal to open EU accession talks with Ukraine and is also opposed to amending the bloc's budget for 2024-2027 to provide Kiev with an additional 50 bln euros in financial aid. He also rejected speculation that Budapest would eventually cut a deal with Brussels and agree to the budgetary changes if Brussels pledged to finally release the funds owed to Budapest from the EU’s general budget funds. "I am categorically against any such analogies," Orban pointed out, adding that the issues of Ukraine's accession and the payment of funds to Hungary were "not a subject for negotiation."

On November 8, the European Union’s executive body, the European Commission, recommended that the EU Council start accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova and Ukraine, and grant candidate status to Georgia. EC President Ursula von der Leyen announced the decision while presenting the annual report on EU enlargement in Brussels. If the EU heads of state and government approve these recommendations at their meeting in mid-December, negotiations on Ukraine's accession can begin at the end of March 2024.

Before that, all candidates will have to meet a number of conditions, the most important of which is strengthening the fight against corruption. EU Ambassador to Kiev Katarina Mathernova specified that Ukraine would have to increase the staff of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, amend the law on the declaration of property, enact a law on lobbying in line with European standards, and fulfill the recommendations of the Venice Commission on the status of national minorities.

Hungary immediately said it did not support the EC's recommendations regarding negotiations with Ukraine. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto rejected von der Leyen's proposals the same day.