Orbán: Ukraine should be buffer state, not EU member
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has stated that his country is proposing "strategic cooperation" to Ukrainians rather than full integration into the European Union due to fears of the EU being drawn into the war.
Source: Orbán on X (Twitter); European Pravda
Details: Orbán stated that Hungary is proposing a strategic cooperation to Ukraine that would be "pragmatic, flexible and rooted in mutual interest – not irreversible integration".
"EU membership for Ukraine would drag the war into the heart of Europe, a risk our families should not have to face," Orbán said.
The Hungarian PM said that the current times require "calm judgement, not theatrical threats".
Orbán also called Ukraine a "buffer state".
"Ukraine's fate today is that it is a buffer state neighbouring Russia. That is not a fate we are willing to take on. The Hungarians have only just escaped from that. We too were a buffer state during the Cold War. We were not part of the Soviet Union, but we were located on its western edge, on the eastern edge of the Western world. We were a buffer zone. We do not want to return to that position. That is where Ukraine finds itself now. It may not be comfortable; in fact it isnʼt good; they want to break out of it, but the history is such that you cannot change a countryʼs address," Orbán added.
Background:
- A total of 26 EU member states, except Hungary, reaffirmed at the EU summit that they supported further talks with Ukraine on accession to the EU and agreed to take note of the European Commission's assessment that Ukraine is ready to open the fundamentals cluster.
- In early July, Orbán stated that most European Union countries would vote against Ukraine's accession to the EU if "nationwide referendums" were held on this issue, as was recently the case in his country.
- Balázs Orbán, a political adviser to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, recently stated that Ukraine's war against Russia is not for the security of his country.
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