The Foreign Minister has highlighted how Hungary is committed to working in support of European Union enlargement, which is in the interest of both Europe and Hungary.
Following a meeting with Albanian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Edi Rama in Tirana, Péter Szijjártó said the approach of “the European Commission and a few western European countries”, leading to a stall in the accession talks, had been “hypocritical and extremely harmful”.
Minister Szijjártó said the EU’s continued enlargement and the integration of the Western Balkans are in Hungary’s strategic and economic interest. Foot-dragging on the process may result in Hungary being able to “rely on those countries less” in holding up the next wave of migration, he added.
The Minister said Hungary is still hoping to obtain the enlargement portfolio in the incoming EC “as this would be a way to guarantee reigniting the enlargement process”.
Speaking at a forum of the Organization of Safety and Co-operation in Europe, Minister Szijjártó lamented the EU’s decision to postpone the enlargement of the bloc and the opening of accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia.
Photo credit: MTI