By KYIV. Dec 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – French President Emmanuel Macron invited Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to a meeting in Paris later this week to find a compromise on the start of negotiations with Ukraine on its accession to the EU, Politico says, citing its own sources.
“French President Emmanuel Macron has invited Orbán to meet him in Paris at the end of this week to seek to strike a compromise,” Politico said on Tuesday.
As the source told the ezine, Paris believes that the Hungarian leader can still be convinced to back Ukraine’s accession into EU. According to the official, Orbán was “driving up the bids” in a gamble to get more EU money. “It’s purely tactical … that’s why there’s a certain optimism that we can reach an agreement,” Politico’s interlocutor said.
A diplomat from another EU country played down Orbán’s threat as political theatrics and sought to counter the impression that he was dictating the agenda for the other 26 countries, saying “another day, another letter from Budapest. So what’s new?”
But yet another senior diplomat from a third EU country said it was “increasingly difficult for Orbán to climb down” from his tree. The EU official in Brussels also said Orbán “really seems to mean it this time,” arguing the Hungarian leader had made clear that he would not budge on Ukraine’s accession even if he got more EU funds.
