I vetoed joint declaration on issue of Ukraine

I vetoed the joint declaration on the issue of Ukraine; until the Hungarians state their opinion on Ukraine’s EU membership, we are unable to support any common position related to this, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on his social media account on Thursday. 

In a video recorded during a break of the EU summit in Brussels and posted on his Facebook account, the Prime Minister said “this is not the first battle of this kind” for Hungary. “We won’t consent to the adoption of a joint European position which Hungary is a part of and which is pro-war,” he added. 

“Families have lost around HUF 2.5 million forints per household in the past three years due to the war, and I must stop this, we must put an end to this, we must not allow Hungarian families to continue to have to pay for the economic consequences of the war,” he stated. 

Mr Orbán stressed that this could be achieved in a single way, “by convincing Europe that rather than engaging in war adventures, it should quite simply support the president of the United States in his peace efforts, and then there will be peace.” 

“This is the debate that took place. We couldn’t convince each other, so I vetoed the common position,” he pointed out. 

He observed that the Ukrainian president, too, had taken part in this debate. 

“I wouldn’t say he did so in an amicable way. The president of Ukraine is confused, he is behaving as if he were a member of the European Union and could therefore allow himself a tougher tone, despite the fact that he can’t do that. He is an applicant that would like to gain admission to the European Union,” the Prime Minister laid down. 

Mr Orbán added that in Hungary they were in the process of consulting the people about what they thought about Ukraine’s EU accession. 

“President Zelenskyy is rushing us or stands on his head in vain; until we learn the Hungarian people’s opinion, I can’t support him in this,” the Prime Minister pointed out.