BUDAPEST, May 12. /TASS/. Ukraine’s accelerated accession to the European Union would drag its member states into a military conflict with Russia, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned.
"As Ukraine’s neighboring country, we believe that if Ukraine is admitted to the European Union, the EU will also be dragged into the war," he stated at a conference of European Parliament speakers in the Hungarian capital of Budapest. Orban pointed out that the EU had never granted membership to a country actively engaged in war.
He also expressed regret that the leaders of most European countries were determined to continue providing military assistance to Ukraine. "We think differently. We believe that the longer the war goes on, the more lives will be lost," the premier noted.
He confirmed that the Hungarian government opposed the idea of granting EU membership to Ukraine, not only because of the fear of being dragged into a military conflict with Russia. In Orban’s view, Ukraine’s rushed accession to the union that Brussels insists on will require additional spending, seriously worsening the social and economic situation in all EU member states. "It’s about an agricultural crisis, unemployment, debts and a drop in living standards," Orban said, listing the potential consequences of this step.