Lithuanian official hints Hungary should leave if it doesn't share EU values

Arnoldas Prantskevičius, Lithuania’s Permanent Representative to the European Union, has hinted that Hungary should leave the EU given its position on the results of this week's European Council meeting.

Without directly naming Hungary, the Lithuanian diplomat pointed to "one" of the leaders who disagreed with the approval of €50 billion of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine and "is boasting in Twitter with the 'achievements'", Ukrainska Pravda reports citing his post on Facebook.

"I really want to wish that Member State to never experience the war, which the people of Ukraine are currently going through, to never have its cities bombarded and citizens killed, to never have its territories occupied by an aggressor state. I wish it never has to ask for solidarity of others and never experiences allies veto vital help in the times of biggest need," Prantskevičius added.

He believes, that if this member state is not ready to share the solidarity and mutual trust of the European Union, "there is only one proper solution: leave".

At the EU summit on December 14, EU leaders supported the opening of negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.

Although the decision on Kyiv had long been blocked by Hungary, its veto was overridden by persuading Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to leave the room during the vote and thus abstain from voting.

Orbán himself later claimed that he had agreed to give up his veto right at the start of Ukraine’s EU accession talks since he would have many more opportunities to block this process.