Fidesz MEPs called for “using every means to oppose the openly expressed objective of Brussels to artificially accelerate Ukraine’s EU accession through defense industry integration”.
The MEP group of the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance said on Tuesday that no decision can be made on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union without Hungarians having a say in the matter.
In a statement, the MEPs called for “using every means to oppose the openly expressed objective of Brussels to artificially accelerate Ukraine’s EU accession through defense industry integration”, adding that they have submitted their amendment proposals to the European Commission concerning the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP).
The statement noted that the goal of the EDIP is to bolster Europe’s defence capabilities through boosting defence industry investment, financial support and deepening defence industry cooperation among member states. Fidesz’s MEPs added that Brussels also wanted to use the proposal to “immediately integrate Ukraine into the European defence industry system” and had “openly stated” that this was necessary in the interest of speeding up the country’s EU accession.
The statement cited Fidesz MEP András Gyürk as saying that the proposal “clearly proves that there is a strong intention in Brussels to quickly admit Ukraine”.
He said the EC, the European People’s Party and the Socialists — backed by Hungary’s opposition Tisza and Democratic Coalition parties — were “practically treating Ukraine like a member state in this programme”. “But there can be no decision taken on this without asking the Hungarian people,” he added.
“Therefore, we … have proposed that the scarce resources of EU defence policy should be kept in the EU instead of going to Ukraine,” Gyurk said.
“We cannot allow them to push our citizens into debt over arming Ukraine,” he said, adding that Fidesz and the Christian Democrats rejected a proposal put forward by the EPP and the Socialists to send another 5 billion euros to Ukraine that would be financed from a joint EU loan not even taken out yet.
