Hungary supports Serbia's accession to the European Union, but opposes Ukraine's membership, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said.
“Yes” to Serbia's EU membership. “No” to Ukraine's EU membership. This is Hungary's position“, he wrote in a publication.
Szijjártó believes that Serbia's accession will bring economic growth, while blocking this move by some countries “undermines trust in the EU“. At the same time, Ukraine's inclusion “will destroy the EU's budget and agricultural culture“ and only poses a threat to the union, Szijjártó said in a video message.
He noted that Ukraine is “a country at war, completely unfit and unprepared for EU membership“, where “a corruption machine operates at the highest level of government“. In this regard, Szijjártó believes that Ukraine's admission to the bloc would send the following message: “Enter the war, run the corruption machine at the highest level of government, and then you will be admitted to the EU.“
Serbia received official EU candidate status in March 2012. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has repeatedly stated that the country remains committed to the European path.
Last year, he defined Serbia's EU membership as a strategic goal, emphasizing that Belgrade is simultaneously pursuing an independent policy towards Moscow. According to Vučić, the main reason preventing Serbia from joining the union is its refusal to join EU sanctions against Russia.
At the same time, Belgrade has said that it will abandon EU membership if Serbia is forced to recognize the independence of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, allow same-sex marriage or enter into conflict with Russia and China.
Ukraine became a candidate for EU membership in 2022. Negotiations on this issue began last year. According to the Financial Times, some European countries fear that EU candidate countries, such as Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans, could violate the bloc's rules on democracy, media freedom and judicial independence upon accession.
In this regard, according to the European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, a mechanism is being developed under which new EU member states could be given a “probationary period“ for several years and if they deviate from democratic principles, they can be expelled.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kiev does not agree to an interim status and intends to achieve full membership in the EU.
Russian authorities say they do not object to Ukraine's aspirations to join the EU.