VIENNA – New Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar stated that the EU must admit long-standing Western Balkan candidates before Ukraine, because otherwise it could lose credibility in the region.
“As for EU membership in principle, I want to encourage European countries to, before others are promised some status, first let those candidates which have been preparing for many years, which have given up a lot, made many commitments and received many promises, into the EU,” he said in yesterday’s interview with the Austrian APA agency, it was reported by N1 Serbia.
The Hungarian Prime Minister warned that otherwise the EU would lose credibility in the countries of the Western Balkans.
“We know that the stability and security of the Balkans is not only in the interest of the Balkans, but also of Europe. That is why I want to encourage everyone to first fulfill what we promised before, before various promises are made on behalf of the European Union”, noted Magyar, who made his first visit to Austria as Prime Minister on 21 May.
When asked whether Hungary would hold a referendum on Ukraine’s accession to the EU, he said it would, but it was not a unique case.
“We are very far from it, because Ukraine will not join the EU tomorrow, or the day after, but in ten years at the earliest, it is still so far away from it… But it is not only the opinion of Hungary, but of almost all European governments that there are no two ways of joining the EU”, he remarked.
He pointed out that anyone who wants to join the EU “must go through the same procedures, meet the same preconditions”.
According to him, Hungary really intends to hold a referendum on Ukraine’s admission to the EU, but only after the war with Russia is over and if Kyiv still wants the membership.
“However, we are not alone in this, because referendums on the admission of some countries into the EU have already been held in a number of countries. It is the right of every sovereign country to decide whether the government knows better, or, like the Hungarian government, to leave the people to decide at a given moment on the admission of a country to the EU”, Magyar stressed.
