Despite the efforts of russia and its European friends to suppress Ukraine's European integration, Ukraine is starting negotiations to join the European Union. Find out how Orban tried to appeal to Europe's common sense and why he failed to convince the leaders of the European Parliament not to accept Ukraine into the European family

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While the war criminal putin was speaking on the ridiculous and lying "Direct Line" and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was trying to call on the leaders of the European Council to "come to their senses" by calling his country "the voice of common sense in Europe," Ukraine received an official invitation to join the EU. It was followed by Moldova, and Georgia became a candidate for EU membership.

"Today is the day when determination will be either in Brussels or in moscow. People in Europe will not understand if the "reward" for a meeting in Brussels is putin's satisfied smile," the Ukrainian president said before the summit. Fortunately, the world did not see the war criminal's smile.

Thus, despite all the attempts of russia and its "henchmen" in Europe to disrupt Ukraine's European integration, as well as despite the disappointing forecasts of analysts who estimated the country's chances of receiving an invitation at only 30%, Ukraine is officially starting the process of joining the EU. And this is undoubtedly a victory!

How did Orban obstruct Ukraine's accession to the EU?

Viktor Orban has been against Ukraine since the beginning of russia's full-scale invasion, as he is perhaps the only EU leader who is directly or indirectly called putin's accomplice.

However, in recent months, his policy against Ukraine has sharply escalated, as the Ukrainian government has fulfilled the conditions and recommendations that preceded the start of negotiations on accession to the European Union. Moreover, the Hungarian leader has been blocking 50 billion euros of aid for Ukraine for several months.

"Last year, Ukraine received clear recommendations on how to move forward. We adopted key laws. You all - I emphasize: all - are well aware that we have fulfilled all our obligations," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a speech at a meeting of the European Council, questioning what the Hungarian leader has been constantly emphasizing. 

At the same time, despite the fact that he loudly stated in public that Ukraine was not ready and should not be invited to negotiate, Orban's answer to the question of the French weekly Le Point whether he would block this decision was rather ambiguous.

"Let's just say that I will not participate in a decision that seems wrong to me," the Hungarian prime minister explained, thus hinting that he would not veto or abstain from voting. This is what eventually happened, as he simply walked out of the room during the vote.

What is even more telling is that Orban and members of his government have repeatedly opposed the imposition of sanctions on russia, but since 2014, they have quietly voted in favor of sanctions at least 11 times.

Thus, despite the calls against Ukraine, Orban did not block the start of accession negotiations, which is perhaps not surprising, since shortly before the summit, the European Commission unblocked 10 billion euros for Hungary, which had been frozen due to problems with corruption and the rule of law in that country. 

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Blocking money for Ukraine: Did Orban achieve his goal?

Almost immediately after the official announcement of the start of negotiations, Orban once again blocked financial aid for Ukraine. Thus, at least until the beginning of 2024, the issue of funding will be "up in the air" while EU leaders try to reach an agreement with Hungary once again.

"I don't want to give any details because I want to work with my colleagues in the coming days, in the coming weeks to prepare the summit that will take place next year, early next year," AFP quoted the President of the European Council Charles Michel as saying.

Negotiations have begun, what's next?

Officially, Ukraine has been given the green light for accession negotiations, but the actual vectors of movement will be approved in March 2024. At the same time, the start of negotiations is only a kind of "solidarity signal" that does not mean quick accession to the European Union. After all, Ukraine has to overcome a difficult path of reforms related to procurement, corporate law, monetary policy, judiciary and law enforcement, anti-corruption and other important issues.

But the main thing is not how long it will take Ukraine to get there, as this is only a technical issue. Thus, during the EU summit, the European leaders demonstrated what putin understands best - strength. And today the whole world knows that Ukraine is not alone in this fight!

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Earlier, we told you how much time passed between the start of negotiations and the actual accession of other countries to the EU.

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