Orbán does not mention Ukraine in speech on enlargement as priority of his EU presidency

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has named EU enlargement among the priorities of Hungary's presidency of the Council of the European Union, but did not mention Ukraine in this context.

Speaking about enlargement in the European Parliament , Orbán focused entirely on the Western Balkans region and emphasised the need for Serbia's membership.

"One of the key points of the Hungarian presidency is EU enlargement. We need a virtue-based approach to enlargement, and it should remain so," he said. 

Orbán said that the Hungarian presidency is firmly convinced that the membership of the Western Balkans should be accelerated.

"This is a key issue for Europe, for its economic, political and geopolitical integration. For the benefit of the EU, we must focus on Serbia in particular. Without Serbia joining the EU, we cannot stabilise the Balkans.

As long as Serbia is not a member of the EU, the Balkans remain an unstable region."

He also noted that a number of Western Balkan countries technically already meet the accession criteria, while the remaining obstacles are political.

As reported, in 2024, Hungarians were less open to EU enlargement than in 2023 and were particularly sceptical about Ukraine's potential membership.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that Moldova's and "problematic" Ukraine's accession to the EU should be separated.