Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced Thursday the results of a nationwide online consultative referendum, revealing overwhelming opposition to Ukraine’s potential membership in the European Union.
The campaign, titled “Voks 2025,” ran from mid-April until June 20 and asked participants a single question: “Do you support Ukraine’s European Union membership?” According to Orbán, 95% of respondents voted against Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
A total of 2,284,482 votes were cast, representing approximately 30% of Hungary’s eligible voting population. While the referendum is non-binding, the outcome reflects long-standing tensions between Budapest and Kiev, and is widely expected to shape Hungary’s official position in future EU negotiations. Given Hungary's veto power within the European Union, this could present a serious obstacle to Ukraine's integration efforts.
Orban noted that Hungary’s position “cannot be bypassed” in which he blocked all decisions made towards Ukraine’s membership at the 2025 EU Summit which is being held Thursday and Friday.
Relations between Hungary and Ukraine have been strained since 2014, particularly over alleged discrimination against ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine’s Transcarpathian region following the events of the Maidan uprising. In 2022, Prime Minister Orbán accused Ukraine of attempting to interfere in Hungary’s parliamentary elections in favor of the opposition, which advocated for stronger support of Ukraine’s war effort against Russia, which was opposed to Orban’s neutral stance.
Tensions have recently escalated further, with both countries expelling diplomats last month over mutual accusations of espionage.
While Hungary appears poised to politically block Ukraine’s EU ambitions, Moscow has also begun to signal a hardened stance. On Wednesday, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, wrote on Telegram that the European Union had become a "real enemy of Russia" and a “direct threat” on par with NATO.
Medvedev’s remarks suggest a possible shift in official Russian policy, as Moscow had previously taken a more neutral stance toward Ukraine’s EU aspirations. His statement raises the possibility that preventing Ukraine’s EU membership could now be considered a non-negotiable condition for any future peace settlement with Russia.