EU Affairs Minister János Bóka said Hungary will not support the closing declaration of the upcoming EU summit on Ukraine as it calls for Ukraine's accession process to be speeded up.
Speaking ahead of a meeting of EU counterparts in Brussels on Tuesday, Bóka said the declaration was contrary to Hungary's position and the national interest in several strategic respects. One reason is that Europe's competitiveness would not be helped by the Ukrainian economy in its current state, he said.
The country's reconstruction and operations as well as army financing would weigh down EU budgets "with unforeseeable costs", Bóka added.
Meanwhile, the minister said that Hungary welcomed the strong focus on competitiveness at the European Council meeting, especially regarding the future of European car manufacturing which, he added, was key to competitive European industry.
Bóka said Hungary wanted a review of EU regulations that push up energy prices, and these included sanctions, mandatory gas storage, and carbon dioxide quotas.
Regarding EU legislative priorities for the 2025-2029 period, he said Hungary could not support them largely because of a plan to further expand and strengthen rule-of-law conditionality, "a tool of political and ideological pressure".
Neither do the priorities reflect those of Hungary, he said, lamenting the implementation of the migration pact in place of "innovative solutions" to migration. "We find this unacceptable," he said.
The relevant EU document also failed to address the transparency of the financing of European civil society organisations, he said, adding that the rule of law and integrity should be at the forefront of EU institutions, and "the latest scandal in the European Parliament" sharply highlighted this issue.