Ukraine's hasty accession to the European Union will lead to the economic collapse of the community. This warning was issued by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, summarizing the results of the EU summit held on March 20 in Brussels.
He noted that the majority of participants in the meeting continue to express support for Ukraine's accession to the community. “But sooner or later everyone will understand that Ukraine's entry into the EU at this stage would mean its economic collapse“, the head of government said in the morning program of Kossuth Radio.
Orban stressed that this process will involve huge costs for supporting Ukraine, and the European Union does not have the funds for this at the moment. The European Commission is proposing that EU countries agree to joint loans for this purpose, but the situation is further complicated by the fact that they will soon have to pay interest on loans taken out to stimulate the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The repayment of a huge loan taken out earlier is on the doorstep. The interest and principal will be repaid in 2027-28. Calculations show that 20% of the EU budget will go towards this - 20 forints out of every 100 forints”, Orbán said, adding that the new loans were "the wrong idea".
He refused to support a joint statement on Ukraine at the Brussels summit that would have secured the country's accelerated accession to the European Union and billions of euros in military aid. The document was approved by the other 26 participants in the meeting but did not become official. The discussion on these issues will continue at the next meeting of EU leaders at the end of June.