this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2023
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Europe

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[–] [email protected] 83 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Hungary out, ukraine in please

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

mate just throw the baby out, the rest of it is fine. I don't feel like as a Hungarian that I should be punished for what that piece of shit prime minister is doing.

don't say to vote him out, that doesn't work in a dictatorship disguised as a democracy.

[–] [email protected] 74 points 11 months ago (1 children)

As we all know, Orban is very connected with the standards and values of the EU, and definitely hasn't screwed his country out of billions in EU assistance because of his authoritarian regime.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Wouldn't say Ukraine is highly connected with the standards and values of the EU either, though.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 11 months ago (2 children)

They've made great strides in the past few years. EU integration was a key demand during the Euromaidan protests, after all, and Zelenskyy ran on a platform of anti-corruption and EU integration.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Absolutely, only time will tell if it sticks though. Forgive me for being sceptic.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Oh, no, I understand, skepticism is probably a good position to have. Wouldn't want another Hungarian-style administration to worm its way in to the EU; one is already too many. Or another Poland-style under PiS.

[–] GregorGizeh 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

We need a multi tiered EU. The core bloc of Western Europe should consolidate further, and drop the eastern contrarians down to accession tier without voting rights. That way the big players can further European integration without having to pay attention to the populist obstructionists who bitch and moan over everything unless they get their way in the process.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Not every Eastern European country is like Hungary though... In fact it's only Hungary, now that Poland's getting a new government.

Also it's not like Western Europe's free of populists either.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago

Slovakia's also getting a new government...

[–] GregorGizeh 2 points 11 months ago

Im not saying that any eastern member should be put in b-tier, but they should generally have a pro European stance by not electing right wing populists based on anti EU rhetoric and policymaking.

Of course im not asking for preferential treatment for the west, if any country fails to meet those criteria the mechanism should also halt their voting rights.

There are currently too many ways for any single party to prevent the whole bloc from acting, even if everyone else is in favor or against.

[–] [email protected] 47 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Hungary should be very close to leaving it instead.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 11 months ago (1 children)

OrbΓ‘n wants to leave for social reasons, but wants to stay for economical reasons. OrbΓ‘n wants the EU money, but none of the responsibilities expected for it.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago (1 children)

His boss in the Kremlin also wants him to stay and wreck the EU from within. Once it disintegrates and Russia gets back its historical possessions up to the Berlin Wall, then and only then will Orban be invited to sit at the Czar’s right hand as a hero of the mighty Eurasian empire.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

then and only then will Orban be invited to sit at the Czar’s right hand next to the 8th story window

FTFY

[–] [email protected] 45 points 11 months ago

Hungary metres from leaving

[–] [email protected] 31 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I disagree with Orban saying Ukraine will take light years to join the EU.
They could join any metre now.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I do not like Orban at all and hate to agree with him, but I think he is right. I think there are two big reasons why Ukraine is unlikely to join the EU proper in the near to medium term:

  1. The EU needs reform when it comes to deciding things when there is no consensus and this is now a very accepted position.The EU will only become more sluggish if we open the gates to another country with veto power.
  2. Farmers. Ukraine is a big (and has potential to be even bigger) aggreculture powerhouse. Many laws (aggreculture subsidies etc) in the EU are not sustainable if Ukrain becomes part of the EU.

These problems are solvable, but take a lot of time I think. Also I don't think it is in the EUs best interest to allow a war torn/rebuilding market into the single market, but here I could be wrong. Maybe there are reasons (like a way to exploit Ukraine after the war) that would invalidate my theory...

I would like to see the EU expand, but I think it will take a long time.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago

As cynical as it may sound, the war has had an immeasurable cost to Ukraine, they are nowhere near in a capacity to join the EU economically for decades.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 11 months ago (2 children)

That is a measure of distance, not time.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

that's why he said: light years away

as in: there is still a great amount of distance Orban thinks Ukraine needs to cover before they converge with the EU admissions acceptability criteria

God, I can't believe I just had to defend Orban

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

"Years away" is also a phrase, honestly it could easily be either and it takes more of a stretch to read it like you did than as a mistake.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Most people consider light years a measure of time, not distance.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Viktor Orban said he and his government would β€œresist” EU talks scheduled for mid-December on whether to formally extend an invitation to Kyiv to join the bloc.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said Ukraine is "light years away" from joining the EU.

The comments came as he was reelected as the president of the right-wing nationalist Fidesz party for the 11th consecutive time in Budapest on Saturday.

Unanimity among all member states is required to admit a new country into the EU, giving Orban a powerful veto.

The EU's executive earlier this month recommended the beginning of accession talks with Ukraine, saying that its government β€œhas shown a remarkable level of institutional strength, determination and ability to function.”

Billions in funding have been withheld from Budapest over concerns that the government has failed to uphold rule-of-law and human rights standards.


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