If Hungary blocks EU decision, it will mean Putin vetoed it – Zelenskyy

Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Photo: Ukraine’s President’s Office

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that if the EU fails to approve the decision to start accession talks with Ukraine because it is blocked by Hungary, it would mean that Russian President Vladimir Putin had directly vetoed the decision.

Source: European Pravda, citing Zelenskyy at a press conference in Oslo, in response to questions from the press about Hungary’s expected veto at the EU summit

The president noted that Ukraine has done all it can to prevent any country from blocking the start of negotiations, but “there is a block from Hungary, and that is a fact”.

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Quote from Zelenskyy: “For our part, we have been very constructive; we have done everything, absolutely everything, complied with all the recommendations of the European Commission, all the recommendations of our partners, and all the recommendations for adapting even those laws that passed the Venice Commission conclusions.”

Zelenskyy emphasised that the issue here is solely the resilience of EU countries and suggested that the absence of a positive outcome at the EU summit would be a victory for Russia, demonstrating that Russia can veto EU decisions. 

“This year, Russia has had no victories; they haven’t achieved anything. They haven’t been able to occupy a single village… But they’ve started working on countries, not only in Europe but also countries on many continents, and pressuring them. So if there is no positive result… if there is no positivity there, it will indicate that Putin has vetoed this decision,” said Zelenskyy.

Background:

• Earlier on Wednesday, during parliamentary debates on the draft resolution on Ukraine, Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán explained why he decided to block the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU. Orbán believes that in fact, Kyiv has not met the conditions required to commence the negotiations.
• On 12 December, the Hungarian Prime Minister referred to survey data from a pro-government think tank that justifies his decision to block the start of Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations at the EU summit.

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