Current:Home > ContactHungary’s Orban demands Ukraine’s EU membership be taken off the agenda at a bloc summit -WealthMindset Learning
Hungary’s Orban demands Ukraine’s EU membership be taken off the agenda at a bloc summit
View
Date:2025-04-13 18:46:30
BRUSSELS (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban demanded on Monday that Ukraine’s membership in the European Union and billions of euros in funding meant for the war-torn country be taken off the agenda at a summit of the bloc’s leaders next week.
In a letter to European Council President Charles Michel, who will chair the Dec. 14-15 summit in Brussels, Orban insisted that a “strategic discussion” is needed first about Ukraine’s European future and warned that forcing a decision could destroy EU unity.
Decisions on EU’s enlargement and a review of its long-term budget, which includes 50 billion euros ($54.1 billion) in aid for Kyiv, can only be taken unanimously by all 27 member countries.
“I respectfully urge you not to invite the European Council to decide on these matters in December as the obvious lack of consensus would inevitably lead to failure,” Orban wrote in the letter, dated Dec. 4 and seen by The Associated Press.
EU leaders, he wrote, “must avoid this counterproductive scenario for the sake of unity, our most important asset.” He did not explicitly say that Hungary would veto any moves to open membership talks with Ukraine, but the threat was implicit.
Michel’s office declined to comment.
Ukraine is counting on the EU funds to help its war-stricken economy survive in the coming year.
Last month, the European Commission, which supervises the enlargement process, recommended that Ukraine be allowed open membership talks once it addresses governance issues such as corruption, lobbying concerns and restrictions that might prevent its minorities from studying and reading in their own languages.
Orban has also claimed Ukraine is “light years” away from joining the EU and that its membership would not be in Hungary’s interests.
He is widely considered one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies in Europe and his nationalist government has long argued against EU sanctions on Russia over its 2022 invasion and has held up financial aid for Kyiv.
Orban has also argued that accession talks should not begin with a country at war, and that Ukraine’s membership would drastically change the way the 27-nation EU distributes funds among member countries.
In the letter, Orban lambasted the commission’s proposal to start talks even though all preconditions have not been met, saying it “marks the end of the European Union’s enlargement policy as an objective and merit-based instrument.”
He described the commission’s proposal for a mid-term review of the 2021-27 budget, which has blown out due to spending to counter the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war on Ukraine, as “unsubstantiated, unbalanced and unrealistic proposal.”
Orban has been locked in a tussle with the commission over concerns in Brussels about rule of law and corruption standards in Hungary. The EU froze billions in funding to Budapest over the shortcomings, but has freed up some money in recent weeks and is expected to do so again before the summit.
Orban’s letter indicated the newly freed-up funds have not changed his mind about Ukraine.
veryGood! (82)
Related
- Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
- Neighborhood Reads lives up to its name by building community in Missouri
- 'It sucks getting old': Jon Lester on Red Sox, Cubs and his future Hall of Fame prospects
- Wisconsin police officer fatally shoots armed motorist after chase
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Dylan Sprouse Reveals the Unexpected Best Part of Being Married to Barbara Palvin
- Alix Earle Makes 2024 Grammys Debut After Forgetting Shoes
- Lionel Messi effect: Inter Miami sells out Hong Kong Stadium for Saturday practice
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- 2024 Grammys: Maluma Reveals Why He’s Understandably Nervous for Fatherhood
Ranking
- Could your smelly farts help science?
- Senate Democrats face steep odds in trying to hold majority in November
- Man extradited from Sweden to face obstruction charges in arson case targeting Jewish organizations
- Grammy Awards 2024 Red Carpet Fashion: See Every Look as the Stars Arrive
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- Inferno set off by gas blast in Kenya's capital injures hundreds, kills several; It was like an earthquake
- Dua Lipa Is Ready to Dance the Night Away in Her 2024 Grammys Look
- The Chiefs Industry: Kansas City’s sustained success has boosted small business bottom lines
Recommendation
Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
Bruce Willis and Ex Demi Moore Celebrate Daughter Tallulah's 30th Birthday
Spoilers! What that 'Argylle' post-credits scene teases about future spy movies
9 inmates injured in fight at Arizona prison west of Phoenix; unit remains on lockdown
Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
Italian mafia boss who escaped maximum security prison using bed sheets last year is captured on French island
Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick rule at pre-Grammy gala hosted by Clive Davis
The 2024 Grammy Awards are here; SZA, Phoebe Bridgers and Victoria Monét lead the nominations