During a visit to Vilnius, Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orban stated that Ukraine's accession to the European Union by 2030 is "unrealistic" and that the European integration process must follow a standard procedure without any accelerations or exceptions. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the Lithuanian publication LRT.
"Every country must follow the same procedure"
Responding to a question about the possibility of completing Ukraine's European integration within a foreseeable timeframe, the Hungarian Foreign Minister emphasized: "We do not consider it realistic. We strongly support a merit-based process, and in my opinion, we agree with Lithuania on this issue." Orban added that all candidate countries must follow the same path without exceptions or special procedures: "Every country must go through the same procedure we did. We also do not support any accelerated accession."
Recognition of Ukraine's progress and connection to bilateral relations
Despite the skeptical tone regarding timelines, the Hungarian diplomat noted positive shifts in Ukrainian reforms. According to Orban, Ukraine has made significant progress, opening four of the six negotiating chapters. The Hungarian minister linked this success to improved bilateral relations between Budapest and Kyiv, particularly thanks to an agreement on protecting the rights of the Hungarian national minority in Transcarpathia.
Lithuania advocates for setting a target date
At the same time, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys expressed a more optimistic view on the prospects of Ukraine's European integration. "We are more optimistic about the terms. We believe a target date can and should be set," he stated. Budrys emphasized that completing all procedures by 2030 remains theoretically possible if Kyiv implements reforms quickly and Brussels promptly completes the necessary stages.
Context: European Commission report on Ukraine's progress
Reminder: The European Commission previously released a report on Ukraine's progress toward the EU. The document notes significant progress in implementing reforms despite the ongoing full-scale war, as well as the fulfillment of conditions for opening three negotiating clusters. At the same time, the EC pointed out that Ukraine lags behind Moldova on its path to EU membership due to insufficient results in combating corruption. Thus, the divergence in the positions of Budapest and Vilnius regarding accession timelines occurs against the backdrop of objective data that the reform process is ongoing but remains uneven across key areas.
