"All 27 EU member states have given the green light to open the first cluster of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said on June 4 after an agreement between Kyiv and Budapest cleared the key hurdle.
"We are one step closer to the EU membership: steadily moving towards our goal," the prime minister said.
Svyrydenko's statement followed Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar's announcement on June 3 that Ukraine and Hungary had reached an agreement on the rights of the country's Hungarian-speaking minority, prompting EU officials to confirm that the next stage in the EU accession process will proceed in mid-June." KI
"Hungary will not supply weapons or military equipment to Ukraine, the country’s newly elected prime minister, Peter Magyar, said on Thursday shortly after meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels.Magyar’s center-right Tisza party defeated Viktor Orban’s Fidesz last month, securing a two-thirds parliamentary majority. EU officials, who had previously criticized Orban as a Kremlin-friendly politician, voiced support for Magyar ahead of the election and were widely seen as expecting him to roll back many of the previous government’s policies.
Magyar, however, is far closer to Orban politically than the former prime minister opponents would like to admit. “I informed the Secretary General that Hungary is not supplying weapons or military equipment to Ukraine,” Magyar said in a post on X.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orban, a member of Magyar’s Tisza party, had previously said Hungary “stands for peace” and rejects sending either troops or weapons to Ukraine." RT
"President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar on a historic election victory on April 12, as Kyiv aims to reset relations with Budapest following Prime Minister Viktor Orban's 16-year rule over Hungary.
"I congratulate Peter Magyar and the TISZA party on their convincing victory. It is important when a constructive approach prevails," Zelensky wrote on social media.
"Ukraine has always sought good-neighborly relations with everyone in Europe, and we are ready to develop cooperation with Hungary," Zelensky said, adding that Kyiv is ready for "meetings and joint constructive work" with what will become the new Hungarian government." KI
"In a stunning collapse that ends 16 years of uninterrupted rule, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has conceded defeat in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, according to statements from opposition leader Péter Magyar.With early results showing the Tisza Party on track for 128 seats in the 199-seat National Assembly and Fidesz collapsing to just 62 seats (based on more than 21% of votes counted), Orbán’s long-dominant alliance has suffered a decisive repudiation.
What the Numbers MeanTisza: ~128 seats (and climbing as more precincts report)
Fidesz: ~62 seats
Previous election (2022): Fidesz 135 seats
Urban centers, younger voters, and economically frustrated middle-class families drove the surge, while Fidesz held rural strongholds. The opposition’s consolidation under Magyar — a center-right, pro-EU, anti-corruption platform — proved decisive after years of fragmented resistance." ZH
"U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled his new Board of Peace during a signing ceremony in Davos on Jan. 22, in an event attended by leaders and officials from 19 signatory states.
The new body is launched primarily to oversee the ceasefire in Gaza, but U.S. officials said it would be expanded to other conflict regions.A White House official confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that the Board could play a role in other situations, subject to the chairman's discretion and the consent of the relevant states, without ruling out engagement on Russia's war in Ukraine.
"This is not just a 'Board of Peace,' this is a board of action," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after signing.
"It is going to be a successful effort, and you see it reflected here today among countries of different backgrounds from different parts of the world."
Countries represented at the opening ceremony included Turkey, Hungary, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Argentina, Pakistan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.
Others, including Belarus, Israel, and Vietnam, have also said they would join the Board, while France, Norway, and Sweden have rejected." KI
"Hungary has blocked the issuance of Eurobonds to arm Ukraine – one of two options put forward by the European Commission to fund Kiev’s war effort – Politico reports, citing sources.
After the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, EU states froze around €210 billion ($245 billion) in Russian central bank assets, most of them held by Belgian-based Euroclear.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed two ways to finance Ukraine: EU-level borrowing through Eurobonds – an option criticized for its immediate impact on national treasuries – or a ‘reparations loan’ tied to the frozen Russian assets, which Moscow has called theft. The commission aims to reach a deal before a December 18 summit.
According to Politico, Hungary formally ruled out the joint borrowing plan at talks, reportedly leaving the bloc with only the ‘reparations loan’ as an option, since it only requires a qualified majority to be approved, while joint borrowing requires unanimous consent." RT
"The United States imposed new sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, along with dozens of their subsidiaries, in an effort to increase economic pressure on Russia. The European Union and the United Kingdom followed suit by announcing new sanctions targeting the Russian energy sector.
President Donald Trump said that he had canceled his scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary. “We cancelled the meeting with President Putin,” Trump said to reporters at the White House. “It just didn’t feel right to me… We didn’t seem to have a chance of reaching our destination. So I called it off, but we’ll do it later,” Trump said." Ukrin
"The Russian Energy Week International Forum (REW) will take place from October 15 to 17 in Moscow, serving as one of the world’s leading platforms for dialogue on the future of global energy and fuel industries.
Notable international participants include:
Kim Yu Il, Minister of Electric Power Industry of North Korea;
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary;
Abdul Latif Mansour, Minister of Energy and Water of Afghanistan;
Delcy Rodríguez, Vice President and Minister of Petroleum of Venezuela (joining via video link).
Featuring over 70 sessions and discussions, REW 2025 will center on multilateral cooperation in energy and explore Russia’s role in the evolving multipolar energy landscape." Sputnik
"Hungary has begun collecting signatures against the European Union's military plans, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
Orban said that he would initiate a petition in Hungary against Brussels' military plans, which presented a strategy for "defeating Russia" at the EU summit.
"We can't watch this without doing anything! We must show once again that the Hungarian people do not want war. That is why today we are starting to collect signatures against Brussels' military plans. We will be in every town and village, because right now we need every Hungarian who wants peace," Orban said on social media." Sputnik
"Former Czech Prime Minister and populist billionaire Andrej Babiš and his ANO partyemerged as the winners of the Czech Republic’s parliamentary elections on Saturday; however, a coalition-building process is likely to ensue before the next government is formed.
Babiš, who previously served as Czech prime minister from 2017 to 2021, is likely to be given the opportunity to form a government after his ANO party won 34.6 per cent of the vote on Saturday, topping the neo-liberal Spolu (Together) coalition of likely outgoing Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Blesk reports.
The victory for the billionaire businessman, often described as Czechia’s Trump, may potentially strengthen the Ukraine-war critical bloc in the European Union, alongside fellow Visegrad leaders Robert Fico in Slovakia and Viktor Orbán in Hungary.
However, with his party projected to have won 80 seats in the 200-seat Czech parliament, Babiš will either need to build a coalition or govern from a minority position with the support of other parties in the legislature.
The most natural coalition partner for ANO is likely the Motorists for Themselves (AUTO) party, an anti-green agenda and Eurosceptic party, which is already in coalition with the Babiš party in the EU Parliament, with both sitting in the populist Patriots for Europe grouping." Breitbart
"European Union leaders are planning talks in Copenhagen to gather support from enough
countries to bypass Hungary’s veto on seizing frozen Russian funds to finance Ukraine, media reports say.
While the move would require unanimous support from all 27 member states, the European Commission has proposed a rule change to a qualified majority, isolating Hungary and ignoring its objections." Sputnik
"Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on July 25 that Budapest proposes "strategic cooperation" with Ukraine instead of full European Union integration, arguing that Kyiv's accession would drag the war into the heart of Europe.
"EU membership for Ukraine would drag the war into the heart of Europe, a risk our families should not have to face," Orban wrote on X. "These times call for calm judgement, not theatrical threats."
The Hungarian leader described Hungary's proposed partnership as "pragmatic, flexible, and rooted in mutual interest — not irreversible integration." KI
"Hungary has accused Ukraine of threatening its sovereignty after Kiev launched a dronestrike on the Druzhba oil pipeline on Tuesday. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said shipments of Russian crude via the pipeline have been temporarily halted following the attack on a metering station.
In a video posted on Facebook, Szijjarto stressed that the Druzhba pipeline is a critical component of Hungary’s energy infrastructure, pointing out that if it ceases to function, oil deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia would be “physically impossible.” RT
"Billionaire Elon Musk, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, has blamed Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky for the death of an American national who criticized his government.Chilean-American filmmaker and blogger Gonzalo Lira died in a Ukrainian jail in January 2024 while awaiting trial for “systematically justifying the Russian aggression.”
“Zelensky killed an American journalist!” Musk wrote on his social media platform X on Wednesday.
“Zelensky cannot claim to represent the will of the people of Ukraine unless he restores freedom of the press and stops canceling elections!” he added.
Lira, who moved to Ukraine in 2010, was covering the conflict with Russia on YouTube. The Security Service of Ukraine arrested him in 2023 after he jumped bail and attempted to seek asylum in Hungary. Lira claimed that he was tortured in custody. His family accused Kiev of being complicit in his death." RT
"Ukraine is ready to take Hungary’s place in the European Union, the Foreign Ministry in Kiev said on Wednesday. Budapest recently blasted Ukraine for blocking the transit of natural gas from Russia to the European Union." RT
"Zelensky has criticised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for his phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. "We all hope that Viktor Orban at least won’t call Assad in Moscow to listen to his hour-long lectures as well." Pravada
"Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has rejected a proposed Christmas ceasefire and a large-scale prisoner swap with Russia, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Orban made the remarks on X in response to a post by Zelensky criticizing a phone conversation between the Hungarian leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier that day." RT
"US interference triggered the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said. His comments come after Moscow accused Washington of lacking “common sense and restraint” in its approach to the conflict.
In an interview with public broadcaster Kossuth Radio on Friday, Orban claimed the United States had played a decisive role in the conflict.
”America is one of the main players in this war. Without America, this war would never have happened. Ukraine would not have been able to resist without America’s support,” the prime minister said, as quoted by the Magyar Nemzet newspaper." RT
"Hungary said that it will bus illegal migrants to the European Union capital of Brussels, Belgium if the bloc attempts to force Budapest into accepting supposed asylum seekers who broke into other EU nations.
Standing before a fleet of busses in Budapest the Hungarian politician said per Magyarnemzet: “If the European Union forces Hungary to let in illegal immigrants, Hungary will offer the migrants to transport them to Brussels for free after completing the European procedure.” Breitbart
"Marine Le Pen's far-right National Pally party struck an alliance with Hungarian PrimeMinister Viktor Orban in the EU parliament. Austria's far-right Freedom Party, Fidesz and the populist Czech ANO party led by Andrej Babis had already agreed to join forces, citing the fight against illegal immigration, as well as transferring more powers from Brussels back to member states as the new alliance's goals." France24
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