❓WHAT HAPPENED: An overwhelming majority of Hungarians have voted against admitting Ukraine to the European Union (EU) in a government-conducted national consultation.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and EU leaders.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The consultation results were announced in June 2025, with discussions taking place during an EU summit in Brussels.
💬KEY QUOTE: “The problem is the war, if we were to integrate Ukraine into the EU, we would integrate the war.” — Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
🎯IMPACT: Hungary’s firm stance means Ukraine’s accession to the European Union—which includes certain NATO-style mutual defense obligations for members—is likely to be impossible for the time being.
Hungary, led by Trump ally Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, is maintaining its stance to veto Ukraine‘s bid to join the European Union (EU). This decision follows the results of a government-conducted national consultation in which 95 percent of voters opposed Ukraine’s accession. Orbán announced his intention to hold the consultation in March, as part of his broader campaign against Ukraine’s EU membership.
The Hungarian government employed a wide-reaching campaign, including billboards and flyers, to sway public opinion against Ukraine’s accession to the EU. Speaking at the EU summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday, Orbán reiterated his position, stating, “The problem is the war; if we were to integrate Ukraine into the EU, we would integrate the war.”
The European Union treaties include mutual defense obligations, which are less firm than those for NATO members but still liable to draw the bloc into direct conflict with Russia on Ukraine’s behalf. This could potentially pull the U.S. into a war with Russia, too, with most EU members also being NATO members.
Tensions between Hungary and Ukraine have escalated in recent months, fueled by allegations of a Hungarian spy network in Ukraine’s Zakarpattia (Transcarpathia) region, which has a significant ethnic Hungarian population that has long been subject to certain repressive measures by Kiev, angering the Hungarian government.
The European Commission has assessed that Ukraine and Moldova are substantively ready to begin negotiations on EU membership, but the Hungarian veto threat could render these redundant. Moldova, like Ukraine, has geopolitical problems, including the breakaway “Soviet” territory of Transnistria, where an unknown number of Russian troops are currently stationed.
The 🇭🇺 Hungarian people have made their decision: they do not support Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
📊 The result of Voks2025 is clear: 2,278,000 people took part in the consultation, and 95 percent of them, that is, 2,168,000 citizens, voted against Ukraine joining… pic.twitter.com/fROFr4SglS
— Balázs Orbán (@BalazsOrban_HU) June 26, 2025
Image via European Union 2023– Source: EP.
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