Menczer: Hungary, Europe interests not aligned with Ukraine EU membership talks

He referred to multiple questions regarding Ukraine’s EU bid for which there was “no answer” or answers that were “frightening”.

Menczer said Brussels and the left wing not only wanted accession talks to start but also wanted Ukraine’s membership fast-tracked.

A country at war should not be brought into the bloc, he added.

Regarding the “state of democracy and corruption in Ukraine”, Menczer said the accession question was a “matter of strategic and historical importance”, and questions must be answered first before the way forward was decided.

He said the recent adoption of a Kyiv law did not fully restore the rights of minorities prior to 2015 and the law itself was not yet being enforced. “A few weeks ago, the education ministry sent a letter telling students they must not speak Hungarian even during classroom breaks,” he said.

The state secreatary said Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer had made similar remarks to Hungary on the poor state of Ukraine’s readiness to start accession talks.

Whereas many in Brussels would start negotiations with Ukraine immediately and fast-track its membership, “Orban and the Hungarian government have gone it alone or almost alone when it comes to most key issues, and then life proved that Hungary’s position was right all along,” he said.