Hungarian prime minister says Ukraine is not yet ready to join the EU

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar says Ukraine is not ready to join the European Union while it remains in a war and has not fulfilled a promise to restore rights for ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia.

“Ukraine is in a state of war and is obviously not ready to join the European Union. Whatever the EU leaders or member states are now trying to do with Ukraine, I believe it is wrong,” Magyar said at a news conference, according to Tass.

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Ukraine is in a state of war and is obviously not ready to join the European Union. Whatever the EU leaders or member states are now trying to do with Ukraine, I believe it is wrong.

He said Kyiv had not implemented an agreement with Budapest on restoring rights taken from the Hungarian minority after 2015. Magyar added that he had seen no progress on the issue.

Magyar confirmed that his government had agreed to start Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations, but said it opposed speeding up the process for political reasons. “The decision should be made exclusively on the basis of the candidate country’s achievements. Once that process is completed, the final decision on Ukraine’s admission to the European Union will be made in Hungary through a national referendum,” he said.

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The decision should be made exclusively on the basis of the candidate country’s achievements. Once that process is completed, the final decision on Ukraine’s admission to the European Union will be made in Hungary through a national referendum.