Ukraine is not suitable for European Union membership until peace is achieved, as a result of the country's entry, war would enter the community, which obviously no one wants - Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, responded to the European Commission's recent enlargement package in Lisbon on Wednesday.
The head of the department reported that the assessment of the European Commission is correct, according to which Ukraine did not meet the conditions set for EU membership, and in this area as well, the violation of the Community principles on the rights of national minorities is particularly flagrant.
"Since, according to the European Commission, Ukraine has not met the conditions set for membership, we do not consider any further steps to be timely with regard to the accession negotiations with Ukraine," he stated.
He emphasized: on the other hand, the Hungarian government would consider the debate on the future policy of the European Union in Ukraine very timely.
"Right, there is a war in Ukraine, so we can see that neither media freedom nor freedom of speech is enforced, we can see that elections are not held either. Obviously, it would be absurd if, in the midst of such circumstances, the institutions or member states of the European Union had to take a position on how the institutions of the rule of law operate in Ukraine," he pointed out.
Péter Szijjártó called it completely clear that until there is peace in Ukraine, the country will not be eligible for EU membership.
"So war with Ukraine would now enter the European Union, which we obviously do not want, we cannot want," he said. "Enlargement should serve to expand peace, and not to bring war into the European Union," he warned.
"Therefore, we do not currently consider any progress regarding Ukraine's accession negotiations to be timely. And of course, we Hungarians continue to expect Ukraine to return to the Transcarpathian Hungarian community all the rights it already had in 2015," he emphasized.
Regarding the recent enlargement package of the European Commission, the minister also mentioned that the community is facing serious security and economic challenges, is getting weaker, and the addition of new member states would be an extremely important means of re-strengthening, which should start with the Western Balkans.
"This is a process that has been unfinished for twenty years. The place of the Western Balkans is clearly in the European Union. The accession of the Western Balkan countries would and could bring momentum and new energy," he opined.
He underlined that the key country in the region is Serbia, which the Brussels panel rightly found to have made significant progress on the path of integration.
"Therefore, the new accession chapters must be opened as soon as possible, the process must be continued as quickly as possible, and it must be completed as quickly as possible," he said.
He also welcomed the fact that Georgia received the status of candidate for membership, which he said it should have received much earlier, meaning that the EU practically only paid off its previous debt.
MTI
