Zelensky: Orban ‘Has No Reason to Block Ukrainian EU Membership’

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has “no reason” to block Kyiv from joining the European Union, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday on the eve of an EU summit.

“I asked him to tell me one reason why. Not three, not five, not 10. Tell me one reason,” Zelensky said of his talks with Orban. “I’m waiting for (an) answer,” he told reporters in Oslo where he met with five Nordic leaders.

EU leaders will be in Brussels from Thursday to discuss renewing their support for Ukraine, with a macroeconomic package of 50 billion euros ($54 billion) and a promise of formal membership talks on the table.

Orban has threatened to veto both measures, which would condemn the summit to failure and leave Ukraine -- and its neighbour Moldova, also hoping for membership talks -- out in the cold almost two years after Russia launched an all-out invasion of Kyiv’s territory.

Hungary insists it has principled objections to Kyiv’s move for membership, arguing that Zelensky’s wartime administration has not done enough to fight corruption.

Zelensky said meanwhile he hoped to have “a very constructive meeting” with Orban “because we have common borders.”

Elsewhere, the European Union must offer "full and enduring support to Ukraine" French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday, ahead of a leaders' summit with fresh aid to Kyiv on the agenda.

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Speaking alongside Slovenia's visiting Prime Minister Robert Golob in Paris, Macron told reporters both countries were "determined to support Ukraine for as long as it takes, in military, economic, humanitarian and diplomatic terms", adding that "our collective security is at stake".