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“The government will do everything in its power to ensure that the European Union addresses the violent mobilization in Ukraine and will seek redress for the death of József Sebestyén,” the EU Affairs Minister said on Monday.
Minister János Bóka said that József Sebestyén was a Hungarian and therefore an EU citizen, and if the EU has any meaning, it is to protect its citizens. “The Hungarian Government will take the necessary steps and use all means at its disposal, not only in the European Union but also in the Council of Europe,” the Minister emphasized.
János Bóka called it scandalous that the EU’s Enlargement Commissioner and the European Commission are silent on this issue.
We will not allow this problem to be swept under the carpet, and we will seek redress,”
he warned.
The Minister went on to say that before the outbreak of the conflict, Ukraine was not a democratic state governed by the rule of law, and since the start of the war, the situation has only deteriorated, which must also have an impact on the country’s accession to the EU.
Regarding the 30% tariff imposed by the United States on the European Union coming into effect on August 1, the Minister said that in his view, it was in the interests of both sides to reach an agreement, and that this was likely to happen.
“However, it must be recognized that the European Union is in a worse position than the United States’ other trading partners, and I believe that this is largely due to the fact that European institutions, especially the European Commission, have positioned themselves as ideological and political opponents of the Trump administration in recent months, over the past year, and even during the U.S. presidential election campaign,” the Minister said.
He added that the good relations between Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Donald Trump may be significant, but Hungary is part of the European customs union and therefore cannot conclude a separate trade and customs agreement with the United States.
At the same time, bilateral economic relations, U.S. investments, cooperation, and in the future, more favorable tax agreements could offset the customs duties, the Minister added.
Bóka also said on Kossuth Radio’s Good Morning, Hungary! program that a political decision had been made regarding Ukraine’s accession to the EU, as the situation that would make this possible does not exist today. The political decision is that Ukraine should be admitted to the European Union as soon as possible, but in any case by 2030, he added, noting that this decision goes against the practice that membership is a merit-based process in which pre-defined criteria must be met objectively.
According to Bóka, in the current legal situation, it is not possible to circumvent Hungary’s position on Ukrainian enlargement, but in recent years, EU institutions have interpreted the law extremely flexibly when it was in their interest to do so, as exemplified by the rule of law proceedings against Hungary. The Minister believes that EU institutions will attempt to circumvent the Hungarian veto as early as this fall, which is why it is very important to always refer to the results of the Voks2025 referendum, which can be a good political tool against political attacks.
Via MTI; Featured photo: Pixabay