Hungary opposes Ukraine's EU membership, says it would mean 'integrating war'

BRUSSELS

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban voiced strong opposition on Thursday to Ukraine's potential EU membership, warning that integrating a country at war would pose a serious threat to the bloc's stability.

Speaking ahead of the European Council summit in Brussels, Orban said Hungarians voted 95% against Ukraine's accession to the EU.

"The problem is the war," Orban said. "If we integrate Ukraine into the European Union, we would integrate the war."

He stressed that Hungary does not want to share a political and economic community with a country currently engaged in conflict, referring to Ukraine's ongoing armed conflict with Russia.

"We would not like to be together in one community with the country that is at war and represents an imminent danger to us. Because if a member of the European Union is at war, it means that the European Union is at war, and we don't like it," he added.

Orban's remarks highlight deep divisions within the EU over Ukraine's membership bid, as several member states push for faster integration amid the ongoing war with Russia. Hungary, however, continues to veto, citing security and geopolitical concerns.

Meanwhile, Orban once again took a defiant stance against the EU migration policy, calling on member states to rebel against what he described as ineffective and overly permissive regulations.

"We discussed 100 times how to change and make more effective the regulation of migration and nothing happened," he said.

The Hungarian leader defended his country’s strict border policies, which prevent entry without prior approval from Hungarian authorities. "If you don't do that, it will never stop."

Orban urged other EU countries to follow Hungary's example and resist the bloc's common migration policies. "What I suggest to all my colleagues, rebellion, rebellion, rebellion."