BUDAPEST, January 30. /TASS/. Ukraine cannot be a member of the European Union and NATO because it would mean war, the country must remain a "buffer zone" between the West and Russia, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on the air with the Radio Kossuth station.
He recalled that the roadmap for Ukraine prepared in Brussels and Kiev provides for the country’s accession to the EU by 2027. The next seven-year budget of the community is being prepared with this in mind.
"But if Ukraine becomes a member of the European Union now, there will be war in Europe, because it is an illusion that one EU state can wage war against a great power while others remain uninvolved. Therefore, we believe that Ukraine's accession to the EU is unacceptable," Orban said.
"Ukraine's EU membership is a path to war and the destruction of the European market," Orban stressed, adding that such a move — contrary to some claims — would weaken, not enhance, the security of the European Union and NATO.
According to him, "Ukraine cannot defend Europe from Russia. Ukraine is not strengthening Europe, but drawing it into war."
Earlier Orban repeatedly said that the European Union should independently enhance its security, and that Ukraine should be given the role of a "buffer zone" between the West and Russia. He confirmed that he still holds this view.
"The money that goes to supporting the Ukrainian army should be used to strengthen our line of defense not on the border between Ukraine and Russia, but where NATO's eastern border ends, that is, in the countries of Central Europe. We must keep Ukraine in an intermediate position," the Prime Minister noted. He believes that Ukraine should become "a kind of safe lane, a buffer zone where Russian troops cannot be deployed."