BUDAPEST (Reuters) - The Hungarian prime minister’s chief of staff said on Thursday he would vote to leave the European Union or abstain if his country ever held a referendum on membership - though he added the government had no plans for such a plebiscite.

Janos Lazar said that was his personal view, not the government’s.

“This does not mean I am not pro-European, this means that the EU does not equal Europe ... The EU today is not capable of defending and representing Europe’s values and interests,” the minister in charge of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s office told journalists.

“Just to make it clear, the Hungarian government does not intend to put this issue on the agenda, does not plan to initiate such a referendum, as the country held a valid referendum in 2004 when it voted to join (the EU),” Lazar added.