Fidesz MEP Csaba Dömötör said the European Commission made it clear at the European Parliament's plenary session on Thursday that they are planning to "use legal means to stifle dissenting voices" against Ukraine's accession to the European Union.
Speaking to Hungarian journalists after the EP debate on EU enlargement in Strasbourg, Dömötör said that a European commissioner had told the plenary session that they were working to scrap the requirement of unanimity for the decision.
"They want to sweep the reservations, opinion, and will ... of Hungarians off the table," Dömötör said, adding that the strongest answer was a large turnout at the Vote 2025 referendum on the matter.
He said the EP and EC "campaign for Ukraine's accession is running on overdrive", and they were handling the accession as a given. He said they wanted to conclude the membership procedure in this cycle, by 2029, and were preparing to open all chapters of negotiation this year.
"Earlier, the enlargement commissioner said that there were 1,000 people working exclusively on this in the EC, and that they would open certain markets for Ukraine before it had become a full member," he said.
"Meanwhile, they are refusing to debate the costs of all this or the degree to which cohesion funding would shrink," he said, adding that "the relevant EP committee" had calculated that cohesion subsidies for current member states would fall by 24 percent and farm subsidies by at least 15 percent.
"Absurdly, they think that Ukraine's membership is a guarantee of European security, even though this is a country at war," he said.
Meanwhile, there was no talk of securing the rights of minorities, he said, "even as the European Parliament holds [countries] accountable for ensuring fundamental rights day and night."
"What they are forcing through will not only have an impact on the safety of everyday life but will also bring the already ailing European economy to its knees," he said.
Meanwhile, Dömötör said the head of the opposition Tisza party's delegation had told a Polish TV channel that the party was striving for a different Ukraine policy from that of the Hungarian government, "and that they will take part in whatever needs to be done".
"This means that at home they are denying ... [the fact that] unconditional support for Ukraine is a membership requirement for ... the European People's Party. So it is no surprise that the Tisza group leader has said the referendum in Hungary is useless," Dömötör said.
"Whatever the case, the strongest reply to these plans is a large turnout at the referendum," he added.