Szijjarto: Ukraine's EU accession 'not to strengthen, but weaken' bloc

"The accession of Ukraine would weaken the European Union and would import the war into the European Union," therefore, Hungary opposes the country's EU entry, Peter Szijjarto, the foreign minister, said in an interview with CNN in New York.

Furthermore, Szijjarto said it was unacceptable that the European Commission's draft budget proposal envisaged 300 billion euros of support for Ukraine over the next seven years.

"This is not fair, and it is unacceptable to us. We don't want the money of Hungarian taxpayers to be brought to Ukraine," he said.
 

In response to a question the minister said Hungary had been carrying out the largest humanitarian operation in its history in Ukraine.

"We are helping Ukraine in many ways. But we are not ready to ruin Hungary. Hungarian people have been paying the price of war for too long time now although we don't have any kind of responsibility," he said.

Then he touched on the situation of the Hungarian ethnic minority in Transcarpathia, and said that the Ukrainian authorities in 2015 had started gradually restricting their rights to use their mother tongue.

On the planned US tariff raises against the EU, Szijjarto said while it would not be easy, Hungary could adapt to this situation. Since the United States is Hungary's second most important trade partner after the EU, the country is interested in lower tariffs, he added.

He said the European Commission had made a serious mistake when US President Donald Trump entered office, because they should have immediately cut tariffs on car industry exports as proposed by the Hungarian government, and now the EU would be in a better position.

Szijjarto called the Brussels leadership "extremely weak," arguing that the bloc had been unable to conclude a good deal for a long time, and therefore European competitiveness had deteriorated.
 

"The European Union used to be a strong player in politics and the global economy, but this is unfortunately in the past. Why? Because the European leaders have screwed it up."
 

Finally, in response to the last question, he said the Budapest Pride had also proven that "love is absolutely free" in Hungary, "we only ask for one thing, do not behave in a provocative, embarrassing, impolite way" in public, he added.

 

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881. While MTI articles are usually factual, some may contain political bias, and readers should be aware that such content does not reflect the position of XpatLoop, which is neutral and independent.

Since the goal of XpatLoop is to keep readers well briefed, right across the spectrum of opinions, MTI items are shared to ensure readers are aware of all narratives within the local media.

XpatLoop believes in empowering readers to form their own views through complete and comprehensive coverage. To facilitate this XpatLoop has a balanced range of news partners, as you can see when you surf around XpatLoop.com

*********************************

You're very welcome to comment, discuss and enjoy more stories via our Facebook page: 

Facebook.com/XpatLoopNews + via XpatLoop’s groups: Budapest Expats / Expats Hungary

You can subscribe to our newsletter here: XpatLoop.com/Newsletters

Showcase Your Business to Expats in the Loop:

As an independent portal we’re grateful to all commercial supporters who help keep you in the loop with fresh insights and inspiration. Do you want your business to reach tens of thousands of potential high-value expat customers? If so please contact us here.