After meeting Bosnian officials on Tuesday, the foreign minister said the use of sanctions will not bring about peace in the Western Balkans, adding that European politicians should engage in talks with the local leaders in order to better understand the situation in the region.
According to a foreign ministry statement, Minister Szijjártó first held talks with Dragan Čović, leader of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “Hungary’s interest lies in peace, stability and calm in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the ministry quoted Minister Szijjártó as saying. This requires the nations making up the country to be successful, he added. Hungary’s government supports Bosnia’s ethnic Croat community in their full enforcement of the rights guaranteed to them by international treaties, Minister Szijjártó said, adding that the community could count on Hungary’s backing on every European platform.
Minister Szijjártó later met Bosnia’s Serb leader Milorad Dodik, and announced Hungary’s launch of a 30 million euro economic development scheme in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, Bosnia’s autonomous Serb Republic. “Peace in the Western Balkans cannot be achieved through sanctions,” Minister Szijjártó said. “Therefore I ask European politicians to talk to President Dodik instead of talking about him, and then they will have a much better understanding of the situation here.”
Photo credit: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter