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A day after he refused to endorse a European Union statement in support of Ukraine, Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Friday said the country’s citizens will vote on Ukraine’s potential future membership in the bloc, the Associated Press reported.
Reiterating his stance that EU membership for Ukraine would depend on whether or not Hungary approves it, Orbán told state radio that Ukraine’s EU membership would mean “Europe will be destroyed, including the Hungarian economy.”
“This process must be stopped in time,” he reportedly said, adding that the Hungarian government will issue a “national consultation”.
Viktor Orban, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s greatest European ally, has criticised European support for Ukraine in the past as well.
The Hungarian leader has pushed the idea of ending the war with a ceasefire as opposed to military support for Ukraine numerous times since the Russian military flooded across the border in 2022.
Moreover, Orban has regularly attempted to block the EU initiatives offering further military and financial support to Kyiv during the war.
Orban’s close relationship with Putin has frequently come under scrutiny. Hungary also supported Russia at the United Nations level when it rejected EU sanctions against Moscow.
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