BUDAPEST, December 22. /TASS/. Not only Ukraine is not ready to join the European Union, but also the European Union is not ready to accept Ukraine as its member, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told the HIRTV television.

The head of the Hungarian government said he tried to persuade his European colleagues during the summit in Brussels on December 14-14 that "not only Ukraine is not ready for membership; the EU is not ready for it as well."

Nevertheless, a decision was made to launch accession talks with the Kiev government, a decision that Orban described as a "reckless scheme."

In his opinion, Ukraine does not meet the criteria for EU membership at this point, while the European Union does not have spare funds that will inevitably be required if Ukraine joins it.

He added that the EU cannot afford long-term financial support for Ukraine from its budget, and has to reserve the funds for some years to come. That is why Hungary does not support amendments to the EU budget for 2024-2027, which allocates 50 billion euro for long-term financial aid to Ukraine.

"A decision on 50 billion euro is to be made at the time when no one knows how the frontline will look like in two months," Orban said.