Hungary has used its veto power to block a joint EU statement that would have initiated membership negotiations with Ukraine.
During the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, Hungary vetoed a joint EU statement concerning Ukraine, effectively halting Kiev’s progress toward EU membership talks. The announcement was made via a communique published on the European Council’s website on Thursday.
The statement, advocating for the commencement of membership negotiations with Ukraine, had the support of “26 heads of state” out of the 27 EU member countries, according to the document. Due to the requirement for unanimous approval, negotiations cannot proceed unless Hungary changes its position. The communique indicated that the council plans to revisit the matter at its subsequent meeting in October.
Although the document did not explicitly mention Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban publicly confirmed the veto.
“We stopped Ukraine’s EU accession with the votes of Voks2025, and I needed it, because I was almost swept away by the public anger when I announced that Hungary would not agree to start negotiations with Ukraine,” Orban stated, referring to the national referendum that concluded on June 20. According to the Prime Minister, over 2 million Hungarians, representing 95% of voters, opposed Ukraine’s EU bid.
“I had to remind [the council] that the most important criterion [for accession] is that there is in fact a country,” he explained. “There must be a defined identity, borders, a population, a territory, and in the case of Ukraine, none of these apply.”
Ukraine declared EU accession a national priority in 2019 and formally applied in 2022, shortly after its conflict with Russia escalated. The EU granted Kiev candidate status later that year, setting a target of 2030 for membership.
While Brussels is in favor of the move, critics contend that Ukraine’s institutions and economy are not ready, and the associated costs would burden the bloc. Budapest is against Ukraine’s EU membership, cautioning that it could worsen tensions with Russia and burden EU taxpayers with ongoing military aid. Alongside Hungary, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Polish officials have also expressed concerns. A recent IBRiS poll revealed that only 35% of Poles support Ukraine’s EU bid, a decrease from 85% in 2022.
Moscow is strongly opposed to Ukraine joining NATO, but had previously maintained a neutral stance regarding its EU ambitions. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated in March that Ukraine has the “sovereign right” to join if the bloc remains focused on economic matters. However, with Brussels increasing defense spending, Russian officials have recently become more critical. Peskov referred to EU militarization as “rabid” earlier this week, while former President Dmitry Medvedev stated that the bloc has become “no less of a threat” to Russia than NATO.
“This is a politicized, globalist, and fiercely Russophobic organization,” Medvedev wrote on Telegram on Wednesday. “Thus, the so-called ‘Ukraine in the EU’ is a danger to our country.”
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