Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán reiterates call to remove Ukraine from EU summit agenda

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has written a letter to European Council President Charles Michel calling for the issue of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine and its accession to the EU to be removed from the agenda.

A copy of the letter was obtained by Radio Liberty journalists.

In the document, Orbán calls the European Commission's recommendation to start negotiations on Ukraine's accession "the end of the EU's enlargement policy as an objective instrument based on values" and complains about "the lack of opportunity to discuss it beforehand". He emphasises that unanimity on Ukraine is allegedly "impossible to achieve".

"I urge you not to propose to the European Council to take decisions on these issues in December, as the obvious lack of consensus will inevitably lead to failure," the letter says.

It will be recalled that on November 8, the European Commission recommended that the European Council start negotiations on Ukraine's membership.

The European Council is now obliged to consider this recommendation at its meeting on December 14-15, 2023.

In addition, the European Union is preparing a €50 billion financial assistance package. According to Reuters` sources, the EU has a "plan B" to circumvent a possible veto from Hungary.