The Hungarian Institute of International Affairs (HIIA) has published a study estimating the cost of Ukraine’s membership in the European Union. The state-funded think tank found that Ukraine’s accession would significantly exceed the EU’s budget, with an estimated cost of 2.447 trillion euros. This would be 12.7 times the EU’s budget for 2025. According to the HIIA analysis, Hungary alone would incur a cost of 48.1 billion euros in the following five years if Ukraine joins the EU.
The think tank, based in Budapest, included the costs of rebuilding Ukraine, modernizing its military, the Cohesion Fund and subsidies for Ukrainian agriculture in the overall balance. At the same time, the HIIA warned that the latter measure would “absorb” the agricultural budget of the EU, as Ukraine’s agricultural sector is much larger than in other EU member states.
Earlier, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had stated that the EU had no money to support Ukraine. The EU had used up all its money and had no cent left. On March 20, the politician again blocked a joint statement by all 27 EU member states on Ukraine. Orbán announced that he would ask the Hungarian people to vote on Ukraine’s EU membership. Until then, Budapest would not be able to support a common stance on this issue. He had previously blocked or delayed EU decisions on Ukraine.