KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed he asked former US President Donald Trump to pressure Hungary into abandoning its veto against Ukraine’s European Union membership bid.
Zelensky made this request during his Monday meeting with Trump, who has promised his team would address the matter.
Ukraine submitted its EU application shortly after Russia’s February 2022 invasion but has faced consistent vetoes from Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
“I asked President Trump that Budapest should not block our accession to the European Union,“ Zelensky stated in comments released to journalists on Thursday.
Hungary, maintaining the closest ties with Moscow within the EU, argues Ukraine’s membership presents security risks and could involve Budapest directly in conflict with Russia.
Ukraine maintains that Hungary’s stated concerns lack factual foundation and represent unjustified obstruction.
“It is absolutely fair that Ukraine wants to join the European Union… This is our sovereign right,“ Zelensky told reporters.
Bilateral relations have deteriorated significantly since the war’s outbreak, with Hungary refusing military assistance and blocking EU financial aid packages for Ukraine.
Tensions escalated further in July when Hungary summoned Ukraine’s ambassador following allegations that military recruiters assaulted an ethnic Hungarian man who later died.
Ukraine’s security service detained two alleged Hungarian spies in May, resulting in reciprocal diplomatic expulsions between the two nations. – AFP
