Polish FM slams Hungary 'blackmail' over Ukraine EU membership

Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski on Saturday accused Hungary of blackmailing the European Union by obstructing Ukraine's bid to join the 27-member bloc.

Ukraine applied to join the EU days after Russia invaded in February 2022, but has been unable to advance accession talks due to vetoes imposed by Hungary's Kremlin-friendly leader Viktor Orban.

"You can blackmail all of the EU with your bilateral issues, but there are limits," Sikorski said at a conference in Kyiv.

"In our view Hungary has gone beyond what is reasonable," he added.

Relations between Hungary and Ukraine have sunk to new lows in recent months, with both sides accusing each other of spying, diplomatic expulsions and Budapest imposing travel bans on several Ukrainian officials.

Kyiv needs the unanimous approval of all member states at dozens of different stages to advance its EU bid.

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Integration, Taras Kachka, said Kyiv would maintain dialogue with Budapest.

"We are not giving up on them despite their public statements about our future in the European Union," he added.

Kachka visited Hungary earlier this week to meet with Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.

Following the visit Szijjarto reiterated Hungary's opposition to Ukraine joining the EU, and said the future of Hungarian-Ukrainian relations depended solely on Kyiv.

But Kachka hoped to eventually soften Hungary's position.

"I hope that we can convince them... Not to change, just to calibrate their approach," he said.