BUDAPEST, December 11. /TASS/. It would be irresponsible to launch talks on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
"From the European point of view, it would be absolutely irresponsible to begin talks on Ukraine’s membership [in the EU]. We would like to state clearly that we reject this approach," he told Hungarian journalists on the sidelines of an EU ministerial meeting on assistance to Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East.
According to the top Hungarian diplomat, the European Commission’s statement that Ukraine meets four out of seven requirements for EU membership "simply is not true." Before beginning the talks, in his words, it is necessary to thoroughly analyze the potential consequences of Ukraine’s membership. "We call for holding strategic debates on the issue of how the EU’s closer cooperation with Ukraine could benefit all countries," he told a news conference, which was broadcast on his Facebook page (Facebook is banned in Russia due to its ownership by Meta, which has been designated as extremist).
The minister noted that his country was facing a lot of pressure ahead of the December 14-15 EU summit, which is expected to decide whether to begin talks on Ukraine’s accession or not. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban suggested earlier that this matter should not be put on the agenda, since Ukraine is not yet ready for that and the EU has no consensus on this matter.
"Such an important decision should be thought through and it is necessary to preserve the European Union’s unity during this preparation. The European Commission should initiate the beginning of membership talks with a country only if such an initiative guarantees that this process will be mutually beneficial," Szijjarto said.
He recalled that Hungary has suggested the EU first establish strategic partnership with Ukraine and then, based on how this goes, decide on the beginning of admission talks. He said that it looks expedient to discuss formats of cooperation with Ukraine and organize discussions on this matter to receive answers to fundamental questions. "So far, we don’t know the answers to them," he added.