BUDAPEST, September 16. /TASS/. Ukraine cannot get into the EU by somehow circumventing Hungary's opposition to the move, Hungarian Minister for EU Affairs Janos Boka.

"Speaking about Ukraine's accession [to the European Union], it is impossible to circumvent [the decision of] a member state either legally or politically. Countries can meet on their own initiative to discuss issues with Ukraine, but such meetings have no legal force," he told reporters in Brussels as quoted in the account of the Hungarian delegation to the EU on X.

The Hungarian government has repeatedly stated that it will not allow Ukraine's accelerated accession to the EU, claiming this would destroy the European economy and lead to a direct armed conflict with Russia. At the EU summit in Brussels on June 26, Prime Minister Viktor Orban blocked a general statement in support of Ukraine, which had greenlit the start of accession negotiations. The same day Hungary published the results of a national referendum in which two million of its people participated, indicating that 95% opposed Ukraine's hasty admission to the European Union. Orban said he would be guided by the opinion of Hungarian citizens during consultations with his European colleagues.

On August 30, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto noted that Hungary would not allow the EU to open accession negotiations with Ukraine to prevent its being brought into the alliance post haste. The minister said his EU colleagues again pressed him to agree to the accelerated Kiev-EU unification.