Hungarian Foreign Minister: Ukraine not ready for EU membership

Ukraine is not yet suitable for EU membership and could bring war to the bloc, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stated on Nov. 8.

"The manner in which Ukraine is violating the most fundamental rights of the EU on the issue of national minority rights is particularly egregious," Szijjarto stated. "And since, according to the EU assessment, Ukraine has not met the conditions for membership, we do not consider any further progress on the issue of accession negotiations with Ukraine is timely."

Szijjarto also criticized what he described as the lack of full press freedom and freedom of speech in Ukraine, as well as the lack of fair elections.

The Foreign Minister emphasized that Ukraine's entry into the EU will bring war to “the bloc, which, obviously, no one wants.”

“Ukraine is in a state of war, so we can see that neither freedom of speech nor freedom of expression is respected there, and elections are not held either," Szijjártó added. "It would be obviously absurd for EU member states to take a position on how Ukraine functions in such conditions rule of law institutions.”

Earlier this week, Balazs Orban, Political Director to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, stated that Hungary would not allow the opening of negotiations on Ukraine's accession into the European Union as long as a controversial language law is upheld in the country.

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The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk