Gergely Gulyás, Head of the Prime Minister's Office, said Hungary does not support the amendment of the European Union's budget, nor the start of accession talks with Ukraine.
At a regular press briefing on Thursday, Gulyás said the government believes that the EU wants to amend the budget while it has not even implemented the current one, adding that no impact study had been prepared on what effect the accession of Ukraine would have on the bloc as a whole. Concerning problems in implementing the community budget, Gulyás mentioned the EU’s “failure to pay out to Hungary and Poland their due funding”, delays in payments from the recovery fund and a generally low level of payments. He added that the European Commission’s denying the funds from Hungary and Poland was unlawful. Concerning Ukraine’s accession, Gulyás said no assessment of Ukraine’s compliance with the EU’s entry criteria had ever been made. Furthermore, it is not clear what impact that country’s integration would have on the community’s cohesion funds, the common agricultural policy, and member states’ contributions to the common budget, he added. Meanwhile, the integration of the “much better prepared” Western Balkans is being delayed, he added.