Viktor Orbán was a guest on Kossuth Radio on Friday morning. In the interview given in an unusual place, in Băile Tușnad [Tusnádfürdő], he reiterated the Hungarian Government’s national vision, and forcefully rejected Ukraine’s accession to the EU.

Orbán voiced strong opposition to Ukraine’s potential EU membership: “Farmers would be the big losers, and certain multinational companies already operating in Ukraine would be the winners if the EU budget were to be restructured in accordance with the European Commission’s plans”.

He noted that “according to Brussels’ plans, Ukraine would receive EUR 360-370 billion in aid over 7 years, amounting to 18 times what Hungary spends on pensions each year, while part of the aid would come from Hungarian contributions.” Providing context, he stated: “Hungary’s total economic output in one year is around EUR 200 billion, therefore we are talking about huge sums by Hungarian standards”.

The head of government asserted that it is in Hungary’s fundamental interest to maintain its position of rejecting Ukraine’s EU membership”, and proposed a different approach: a contract-based strategic agreement with Ukraine instead of membership: “Ukrainian EU membership is unacceptable to Hungary because if we accept Ukraine, we will be accepting war, and we will be the battlefield.” He added that “admitting a country at war into the EU means that we have declared war, and this will have the greatest geographical impact on the region neighboring the EU Member State at war… This is unacceptable, it would destroy Hungary. Many Hungarians would die, our young people would be taken away, we would become embroiled in a war, we would suffer terrible destruction, and our economy would be in ruins. Instead of EU membership, Hungary proposes orderly, contract-based strategic cooperation between the EU and Ukraine that can be maintained, terminated, or modified as the situation requires”.