Hungary should consider leaving the European Union, hinted Arnoldas Pranckevičius, the permanent representative of Lithuania to the European Union, after the results of the European Council meeting on December 14, according to NV.
The Lithuanian politician did not directly name Hungary but pointed to “one” of the leaders who blocked the approval of EUR 50 billion in macro-financial assistance to Ukraine and “boasts about his achievements on Twitter.”
“I really want to wish this member state never to experience the war that the people of Ukraine are currently going through so that its cities are not bombed, and citizens do not perish so that an aggressor state never occupies its territories. I wish it never has to seek solidarity from others and never find itself in a situation where allies veto vital assistance in times of greatest need,” said Pranckevičius.
If this member state is not ready to share the solidarity and mutual trust of the European Union, “there is only one right decision: to leave it,” added the politician.
At the same time, the Minister of European Affairs of the Czech Republic, Martin Dvořák, said that the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, is a Trojan horse that destroys European unity and protects Russian interests, reports Euractiv.
“Today, Orbán is that Trojan horse, who is intensely and unfortunately more and more effectively breaking that unity and trying to show that we should disregard Ukraine,” Dvořák says.
The Hungarian prime minister is blackmailing Europe and abusing the right of veto, the politician emphasized. “I think the real name (for the Hungarian approach) is blackmail. I think the real name is the abuse of veto rights, not to protect Hungary’s national interests, but to protect Russia’s interests,” Dvořák said.
Currently, Viktor Orban is using the Ukrainian issue as leverage to unlock access to funds from the European Union. These funds were frozen due to serious doubts about the rule of law in Hungary by the current government. Last week, the European Commission decided to unlock EUR 10 billion after Hungary published a report on judicial reforms. However, approximately EUR 21 billion remains frozen.
On December 14, the leaders of the European Union decided to start negotiations on Ukraine and Moldova’s accession to the Union. Hungary had blocked a positive decision for a long time. However, during the vote, the Hungarian Prime Minister simply walked out of the room, allowing other EU leaders to vote unanimously.
Later, Orban said he agreed to waive the right of veto to start negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU because he would have many more opportunities to block the process. In addition, the Hungarian politician blocked debates on the review of the long-term EU budget, which envisaged allocating about 50 billion euros to support Ukraine. EU member states are already “fed up” with the behavior of the Hungarian government, said a European high-ranking official during a press briefing in Brussels on December 14, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Cover: DELFI / Šarūnas Mažeika
