Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said Brussels and several European Union member states are being hypocritical on the issue of the bloc’s enlargement, adding that this risked hurting the EU’s appeal in the Western Balkans, including North Macedonia.
"The European Union needs freshness, new momentum, new strength, which it can get from the Western Balkans," Minister Szijjártó told a joint press conference with North Macedonian counterpart Timcho Mucunski in Budapest, according to a ministry statement. "So the EU today has a far greater interest in the accession of the Western Balkan countries than the other way round."
"And we also see that several European Union member states are being extremely hypocritical on this issue, and this hypocrisy can destroy the EU’s appeal and credibility in the Western Balkans," Minister Szijjártó said. "And we want to prevent that from happening."
He said EU leaders had long been calling for making membership in the bloc merit-based, adding that Hungary agreed with this, but wanted this principle to apply "in every case".
"And the fact alone that a country is at war can’t be considered a merit in the integration process, "he said.
Minister Szijjártó reaffirmed Hungary’s support for North Macedonia’s EU accession, saying that the two countries have signed an action plan on knowledge-sharing on the accession process. "Our interest lies in North Macedonia becoming a member of the European Union as soon as possible," he said.
The minister welcomed the seven-fold increase in bilateral trade turnover since 2010, saying that they had discussed how to involve more Hungarian businesses in the development of North Macedonia’s infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Minister Szijjártó said his meeting with Mucunski had taken place at a critical time, with the West having been given "a new pro-peace leader in the form of US President Donald Trump", and there was now a greater chance than ever before to end the war in Ukraine.
"Of course, there are also plenty of problems, embodied by Europe’s pro-war leaders who have decided that they are determined to stop Donald Trump in brokering a peace agreement," Minister Szijjártó said. "This is the sort of gathering we saw in London; an anti-Trump and anti-peace gathering ... where they decided that Ukraine has to continue the war, even if it results in more casualties, more destruction and more dangers, for instance, when it comes to escalation."
"Hungary and North Macedonia are on the side of peace," he said. "We support Donald Trump’s efforts to achieve peace, we support the success of the US-Russia talks because it’s clear to us that only a US-Russia agreement can bring peace back to central Europe."
Minister Szijjártó noted that both Hungary and North Macedonia supported the US’ peace plan in the United Nations last week, calling it "the only reasonable and realistic peace resolution".