“As long as I'm foreign minister and Viktor Orban is prime minister, it won't happen.” The head of diplomacy in Budapest promises to block the start of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto reaffirmed on Monday that Budapest will block the start of Ukraine's accession negotiations to the European Union as long as the current “national government” remains in power, warning that the initiation of the process would bring a “danger to Europe”, reports MTI, according to Agerpres.

Szijjarto noted that Hungary remains the only EU member state opposed to launching substantial accession talks with Ukraine.

“As long as I am foreign minister and Viktor Orban is prime minister, the opening of the accession chapters with Ukraine will not happen,” he said, highlighting Budapest's constant veto despite “enormous pressure” from Brussels.

Hungary's foreign minister has argued that Ukraine's EU membership would draw the EU bloc into war and divert European taxpayers' money. He cited data from a recent meeting of the EU's Foreign Affairs Council that Ukraine would require 60 billion euros to support its military and 135 billion euros over the next two years to finance state operations, costs that would be borne by European taxpayers, including Hungarians.

Minister Peter Szijjarto stressed that Brussels' “pro-war strategy” prioritizes financing Ukraine over diplomacy, ignoring the considerable financial hardship faced by EU citizens.