Ukraine’s ambassador to Hungary, Fedir Shandor, thinks Budapest might change its stance on blocking Ukraine’s European integration. Ukraine is taking a bunch of diplomatic steps to make this happen, like stepping up political dialogue and showing its commitment to being a good neighbor.
The diplomat talked about this in an interview with Ukrinform.
Shandor answered affirmatively when asked whether Hungary’s position on Ukraine’s accession to the EU could change.
“Yes, definitely. Ukraine, in particular the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is actively working on this,” the ambassador assured.
At the same time, he noted that there are “certain specific factors,” the main one being the election period in Hungary.
According to Shandor, regardless of the current position of the Hungarian side, Ukraine should focus on its tasks and move forward.
He also noted that in today’s world, no one lives in isolation, “everyone depends on basic things – energy resources, financial flows, socio-economic support. And the levers of influence are in the hands of the G7 countries.”
Commenting on Ukraine’s possible actions to end Hungary’s blockade of the start of accession negotiations, Shandor noted that President Volodymyr Zelensky had identified several key areas:
- good neighborliness,
- establishing a permanent dialogue,
- searching for new formats of cooperation.
“If Ukraine and Hungary have not reached an understanding on some issues before, now is the time to catch up. There are many methods. But it is important to act in stages, taking into account the fact that Hungary is currently in an election period,” the Ukrainian ambassador concluded.
As reported by Ukrinform, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán categorically rejects the prospect of Ukraine’s membership in the EU, because, in his opinion, it would create a risk of war for the entire European Union.
Hungary continues to block Ukraine’s European integration by not voting to open the first cluster in the accession negotiations. On the eve of the EU summit on June 26, Orbán published the results of the Voks-2025 national consultations, according to which 95% of Hungarians allegedly opposed Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
Meanwhile, the other 26 EU member states support further accession negotiations with Ukraine.
Ukrinform photos can be purchased here.
Source: Hungary may reconsider stance on Ukraine’s EU integration – Ambassador Shandor
