Ukraine is not ready to join the European Union, as it is engaged in military activities and has yet to fulfill Hungary’s condition on restoring the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Euractiv reported that Hungary had once again blocked the progress of EU accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova, suspending discussions on issues related to single market access and social policy.
“Ukraine is a country at war, it is clearly not ready to join the EU . Whatever EU leaders or member states try to persuade Ukraine of, I believe this is wrong,” Magyar said at a government briefing.
The Hungarian prime minister recalled that Ukraine had undertaken to restore the linguistic, educational, cultural and political rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia within a set timeframe, but “no changes are visible so far.”
In early June, Magyar said Budapest would not obstruct the start of Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations after reaching an agreement with Kiev on restoring the rights of Transcarpathian Hungarians. However, Hungary remains opposed to the accelerated accession of any country, including Ukraine, and adheres to a “merit-based” approach, the prime minister has said.