János Bóka, the EU affairs minister, said in Budapest on Tuesday that Hungary believes the European Union must support US President Donald Trump’s peace initiative aimed at ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Following talks with Claudia Plakolm, Austria’s minister without portfolio for integration, Bóka said Hungary’s position is that an immediate ceasefire and meaningful peace talks are needed in order to end the war as soon as possible.
Bóka said "the only peace initiative that can be taken seriously at the moment" was the one put forward by US President Donald Trump, adding that Hungary believed the EU should support rather than hinder it.
Meanwhile, Bóka said he had briefed Plakolm on the Hungarian government’s decision to hold a referendum on Ukraine’s EU accession. He said the vote enabled "an open and honest debate" on the advantages and disadvantages of admitting Ukraine to the bloc, adding that the outcome of the vote would be binding for the government.
The minister also said he and Plakolm were in agreement that it was important for the EU to be more effective in protecting its external borders, and that they had discussed how the bloc could adopt new and innovative solutions to make its migration and asylum policy work.
Hungary, he said, believed EU institutions applied "double standards" to Hungary, arguing that instead of support, it the country had received a daily fine of 1 million euros for protecting its borders.
Bóka said they had also discussed the EU’s next seven-year budget, the Western Balkans’ perspective for European integration, the improvement of the EU’s competitiveness and cooperation on tackling rising anti-Semitism in Europe.
Plakolm said Hungary and Austria were connected not just by "a common cultural and living space", but also by close economic ties and "a deep friendship".
Asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Budapest this week, Plakolm said Austria considered the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu "baffling", adding that" the ICC’s decision did not help the court's credibility".