Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has decided to launch a referendum on Ukraine's EU membership.
Speaking after the emergency EU summit on Ukraine late on Thursday, PM Orbán said the issue of Ukraine's EU membership must be raised again"seriously", and a "responsible decision" could not be taken in the current circumstances.
A decision should not be taken without the input of the public, he said, so Hungary will launch a referendum on the subject.
The plebiscite will be take place "quickly and simply", just as Hungarian national consultations generally are conducted, he added.
If Ukraine's joined the EU, the bloc's entire economic system would be upended, he said. "We're not ready for this, so I think we must slow down and certainly find out people's opinions on the matter."
PM Orbán said funding that the EU wanted to send to Ukraine, combined with the burden of Ukraine as an EU member, was beyond the capacity of the European economy, including Hungary's, to bear.
EU leaders agreed that the EU should spend "a lot of money on itself" to "strengthen our own armies", he noted, adding that they reviewed the military situation in Ukraine. Fully 26 out of the 27 member states "argued that Ukraine should continue the war", while Hungary "remains on the side of peace".
Rather than prolonging the war, "we should support the president of the United States with all possible strength" to ensure peace negotiations are successful, he said.