Hungary

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán suggested Friday that the EU should enter into a “partnership” with Ukraine rather than begin accession negotiations. “I advocate that the EU should land a strategic partnership agreement with Ukraine first. It is not worth it to start accession negotiations, because we do not know what the consequences of Ukraine’s membership will be,” Orbán said in an interview with Hungarian state radio. The Prime Minister explains that Ukraine needs to get closer to the EU before talks about accession negotiations can begin. Orbán is the only EU head of government who still has ties to Russia’s President Putin. /ritzau/