BUDAPEST, June 9. /TASS/. Hungary will not tolerate double standards in the European Union’s enlargement policy and will not support accelerated accession of Ukraine to the bloc, Prime Minister Peter Magyar said, confirming though that his government does not oppose the start of negotiations on the country’s EU integration.
"We do not accept any double standards. We see no need for accelerated accession [of Ukraine to the EU], especially as the country is, unfortunately, still at war," Magyar said in an interview with the ATV television.
He noted that the accession process includes 33 negotiating chapters and stressed that Ukraine still faces a long path before any decision on membership can be made. The prime minister confirmed that Hungary does not oppose the launch of accession talks between the EU and Ukraine but will monitor whether Kiev fulfills a recently reached agreement on restoring the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia.
Magyar previously stated that negotiations across the 33 chapters of Ukraine’s EU accession process could take 10-15 years. He has also repeatedly warned that Budapest would demand strict guarantees for the rights of Transcarpathian Hungarians and could block Ukraine’s European integration if those conditions are not met.
