French President Emmanuel Macron invited Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to a meeting in Paris at the end of this week.
Macron will try to convince Orban to agree to start negotiations with Ukraine over its EU membership, the Politico website reported.
A source in Paris told the website that the French president believes the Hungarian leader can still be convinced to support Ukraine’s accession to the EU. According to the official, Orban has “raised the stakes” to get more money from the EU.
“This is a purely tactical move. Therefore, there is some optimism that we will be able to reach an agreement,” the source said.
A diplomat from another EU country called Orbán’s threats a political spectacle and denied that the Hungarian prime minister was dictating to other countries what to do. ‘Another day, another letter from Budapest. What’s new?’ – asks Politico’s interlocutor.
However, another senior diplomat said Viktor Orban was becoming increasingly intransigent. The EU representative in Brussels also said that this time the head of the Hungarian government seems to make it clear that he will not give up his position on Ukraine’s accession even if he receives more money from the EU.
Orbán’s dispute with the European Commission. ‘Ukraine has done a great job’
The European Commission has responded to comments from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who demanded that the issue of starting accession negotiations with Ukraine not be discussed at the EU summit in mid-December.
EC representative Ana Pisonero said the European Commission disagrees with Orban’s claims that the Commission’s position on Ukraine’s accession is “unfounded and ill-prepared”.
– We do not think our proposal is unreasonable. On the contrary, we believe that Ukraine has done a fantastic job. For our part, we have presented recommendations for starting negotiations and now the decision lies with the Member States, she stressed.
Since the European Commission gave the green light to Kiev in November, the Hungarian Prime Minister has strongly opposed starting accession negotiations. Orbán recently said the EU should first sign a strategic partnership agreement with Ukraine and resume membership talks “within five to 10 years.”
The Hungarian Prime Minister recently wrote a letter to the President of the European Council threatening to block EU aid to Ukraine and its progress towards EU membership if the leaders of EU countries do not agree to implement their entire strategy to support of Kiev to review.
Source: Do Rzeczy
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
