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HUNGARY’S PRIME MINISTER today said that he does not support moving forward on negotiations on Ukraine’s future membership in the European Union, signalling again that his country could pose a major roadblock to Kyiv’s ambitions to join the bloc.
EU leaders are to decide in mid-December whether Ukraine should be formally invited to begin talks to join the 27-member union, with Hungary seen as a potential obstacle.
Unanimity among all member states is required to admit a new country into the bloc, giving Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, a powerful veto.
The EU’s executive branch on Wednesday recommended that Ukraine should be permitted to open membership talks once it has addressed some shortfalls.
But in an interview with state radio today, Orban said the embattled country is nowhere near gaining membership in the world’s largest trading bloc.
“Ukraine is in no way ready to negotiate on its ambitions to join the European Union,” Orban said.
“The clear Hungarian position is that the negotiations must not begin.”
Orban’s government has refused to supply Ukraine with weapons in its war against Russia and has threatened to veto EU financial aid packages to Kyiv.
It also accuses Ukraine of violating the rights of an ethnic Hungarian minority in western Ukraine by restricting its use of the Hungarian language in schools.
Hungary is also in a protracted struggle with the EU over alleged infractions of rule-of-law and human rights standards, which has resulted in billions of euros in EU funds being withheld.
Orban denied that Hungary’s opposition to Ukraine’s EU membership talks was connected to the withheld funds and sought to dispel suspicions that his government was using its vote on Ukraine to pressure the EU to release them.
He added that his government would “not accept” pressure from the EU to support Ukraine’s membership bid in exchange for having the funds released.
In addition to Hungary, neighbouring Slovakia could also pose an obstacle to Ukraine’s EU accession talks.
Its newly elected prime minister, Robert Fico, has threatened to withdraw his country’s military support for Ukraine, and recently called its eastern neighbour “one of the most corrupt countries in the world”.
But in its Wednesday recommendation to proceed with EU accession talks with Kyiv, the European Commission lauded Ukraine, saying that its government “has shown a remarkable level of institutional strength, determination and ability to function”.
It said that talks should only start once it has addressed corruption, lobbying concerns, and restrictions that might prevent national minorities from studying and reading in their own language.
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It’s got to be more 40%. Anyway give a child a mobile don’t start moaning when kidie fiddlers start sniffn around. Be a perant an say NO!
There’s a world of different between reddit or a fortnite discord and being groomed – ‘talking to strangers online’ can be absolutely fine if you teach your kid what to look out for and supervise them appropriately. The parents who wring their hands over the big bad internet are the same ones using ipads to babysit for them.
Call me old fashioned but what are kids from 8-13 years of age doing with a smartphone? Also if a parent saw their child talking to a stranger outside the school or shop would they be concerned? I can’t see much difference, in fact at least the phone seems a much more dodgy option to me as they are hidden behind a keyboard with you having no way of knowing who your kid is in contact with. Scary world out there and IMO parents need to parent & not try and be their kids best friends.
@Mary Cullinane: You’re badly misinformed and extremely old fashioned.
@Sean: I’m sure some people would agree with you but really can you tell me what useful purpose giving a young child a smartphone serves? If making contact with parents is important get them a regular phone.
@Mary Cullinane: well said, Sean needs to wake up and smell the coffee!
I have been ‘online’ for most of my life. I’m in my early twenties, yes I still remember dial-up and no I didn’t get a smart phone till I was 16. I believe children should absolutely be informed as to what to be vigilant for online and SHOULD be supervised as to what they’re doing and who they talk to. It wasn’t till secondary school that I was shown what to look out for. With kids today having social media accounts so young, they should be taught and looked after at a younger age. Luckily, I have met some of my absolute best friends through online communities, met in real life and have been continuously friends for years. Therefore, I personally don’t see it as all doom and gloom. However, there are real dangers out there thats more than just a computer virus. Be smart, be safe.
I once cautioned one of my nephews about being careful who he communicated with online.
He was rather dismissive about the dangers of terrorists (his word) popping up in a Pokémon chatroom.
So I pointed out that any stranger he was chatting to could easily be me using a fake profile to check up on him.
He got such a look of horror on his face! Heh!
PARENTS STOP TAKING THE BACK SEAT ON IT, PUT UR PHONE DOWN AND PROTECT UR KIDS!!
LA frightening scenario: a high proportion of boys, including 36 per cent of eight-year-old boys and 43 per cent of 10-year-old boys, are playing over-18s games and being exposed to violent and sexual content that is not appropriate for their age. The internet service providers and social media companies could do more to bar access. They’re only interested in money. I worked in IT. We could compose firewall rules, get algorithms, software etc to control web access and web communications and that was 10 years ago! BUT it costs money to implement controls and programming and a budget to employ security experts. No excuses. The EU could do more. Parents need to mobilize, lobby politicians and force ISP’s and Social Media Companies to fix this. It would be solved yesterday if desired!
If you want to get an idea of the control and influence these perverts have over vulnerable children, watch three girls on Netflix. It is about the Rochdale grooming gang
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