Following Orbán's defeat, the EU has lost its sense of unity — Politico
During the summit in Cyprus, European leaders approved a €90 billion loan for Ukraine but faced deep divisions over Kyiv’s further integration.
This was reported by Politico.
Despite the positive decision on financial aid, the question of Ukraine’s timeline for joining the European Union sparked heated discussions among participants at the meeting in Ayia Napa.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined the talks and appeared noticeably more optimistic than during previous diplomatic meetings.
However, the sense of triumph among EU leaders quickly gave way to an awareness of the scale of new geopolitical and domestic challenges.
The biggest disagreements centered on the speed of Ukraine’s accession to the bloc, with opinions divided into two opposing camps.
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal called for the process to be “accelerated” as much as possible, emphasizing the importance of supporting Ukraine at this critical moment.
At the same time, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković was skeptical of the idea of rapid accession, effectively dismissing the possibility of an immediate EU expansion.
This divergence in views underscores that Ukraine’s path to membership remains difficult and fraught with challenges, even with financial support.
A notable feature of the summit was the absence of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose position has significantly weakened since his resignation.
“For many years, if there was any unity in the EU, it lay in the fight against Orbán,” diplomatic sources told Politico.
The disappearance of the “Hungarian factor” has laid bare hidden conflicts among other EU members, which were previously masked by Budapest’s veto.
As one European official noted, countries that have reservations about Ukraine’s accession “can no longer hide behind Orbán’s position.”
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Péter Magyar, whose party won the parliamentary elections in Hungary, has begun drafting a strategic plan to restore relations with Brussels.
Mátyás spoke out against Ukraine’s rapid accession to the EU
Péter Magyar is the second cousin of the former president of Hungary and the grandson of a judge.
