Hungary to Pose Manipulative Question on Ukraine's EU Membership in National Referendum
Hungary's Ministry of Foreign Affairs State Secretary, Tamas Menczer, has disclosed details of the upcoming national referendum in the country, funded without hesitation by state resources. Participants will have the opportunity to express their opinions on migration, Ukrainian grain, and Ukraine's European Union membership. Manipulating public opinion, Menczer asserts that EU funds earmarked for Hungary will be redirected to support Ukraine, and in the event of Ukraine's EU accession, more union resources would be allocated there due to the war in Ukraine.
Based on the statement from Hungary's State Secretary of Foreign Affairs, he harbours no doubts about the correctness of such a decision. "Currently, there is a war in Ukraine, so if Ukraine joined the European Union, we would bring the war into our community. Ukraine has already taken away the existing so-called 'acquired rights of the Hungarian national community,' and these rights have not been returned to date. If Ukraine were accepted into the EU, a significant portion of EU funds would go directly to Ukraine," as stated in the survey.
The referendum also includes the question: Do you consider Ukraine's place in the European Union? Participants are urged to voice their opinions. Not a single argument in favour of Ukraine has been included in the survey.
According to the pro-Russian Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, who recently visited China and was the only European politician to meet with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin there, a new national referendum is necessary for Hungary to "steer the ship of Hungary even against a hurricane-like headwind" towards the port of Brussels. Earlier, Orban accused the EU of allegedly wanting to deprive Hungary of its identity by imposing the model of liberal democracy and equated Hungary's EU membership with the bloody occupation regime of the Soviet Union.
In response, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, stated that no one is forcing Hungary to be a member of the European Union. It is worth noting that Hungary's pro-Russian government consistently blocks EU assistance to Ukraine and Sweden's NATO accession application while hoping to unlock €22 billion in EU funds frozen due to widespread corruption in the country.