'We don't want to share their fate' — Orban says Ukraine membership would drag EU into war with Russia
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Oct. 3 Hungary will oppose Ukraine's accession to the European Union, warning that admitting Kyiv would drag the bloc into war with Russia.
Hungary, under Orban — one of the few European leaders to maintain close ties with Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — has consistently opposed Ukraine's EU accession and has repeatedly blocked related decisions and sanctions against Moscow.
"Ukraine is a country with a very difficult fate. Why should we share in this difficult fate? We have our own fate, which is much easier than that of the Ukrainians," Orban said in an interview with state-run Kossuth Radio.
Orban argued that EU membership would force Hungary to assume Ukraine's burdens, including the war with Russia.
"If you are in a federal system with someone and they are attacked, you have to send soldiers. And we do not want that for our young people. We do not want to die for Ukraine," Orban said.
The Hungarian leader also dismissed the EU's current strategy of providing Kyiv with long-term military and financial aid, calling it "an illusion" based on false assumptions about Russia's economic collapse. Instead, he repeated his call for a ceasefire and peace negotiations.
Orban's comments come as European Council President Antonio Costa seeks ways to overcome Hungary's resistance to Ukraine's membership bid.
Politico reported on Sept. 29 that EU officials are exploring reforms to the bloc's unanimous decision-making system, which would allow negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova to progress despite a Hungarian veto.
Ukraine formally launched EU accession talks in June 2024 but has yet to open any of the six negotiation clusters required to align with EU law.
In May, Kyiv announced it had finished all domestic procedures to launch the first cluster, while President Volodymyr Zelensky said in January that Ukraine's "ambitious goal" was to open nearly all negotiation clusters by the end of 2025.
