According to the source, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán left the room when EU leaders voted to start Ukraine's membership negotiations.
Brussels
EU countries leaders made a historic decision on Thursday to start membership negotiations with Ukraine. The decision was made in a very exceptional way, as the EU leaders voted to start membership without the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Orbán announced before the meeting that he was against the start of Ukraine's EU membership negotiations, and the general expectation was that there would be very difficult and long negotiations ahead. At the meeting place, preparations were made for the fact that the meeting could last several days.
President of the European Council Charles Michel however, unexpectedly announced early in the evening that the summit has decided to start negotiations with Ukraine.
EU source according to the decision, Orbán left the room when the summit was preparing to vote on the matter.
According to the rules of the European Council, the leader who leaves the conference room can delegate his vote to another EU leader, but it is not mandatory to do so. According to an EU source, Orbán did not delegate his vote. The voting result is therefore considered unanimous.
“This is a positive surprise, a historic decision,” says the prime minister representing Finland at the meeting Petteri Orpo (cook).
He cannot say why Orbán ultimately did not use his veto.
“I hope that it is the strong message of the 26 other countries,” says Orpo.
“We had a very weighty and serious discussion about European security and the situation in Ukraine. After a hard discussion, Hungary came to the conclusion that they did not block this.”
The news is updated.
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