Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has called for an end to “stoking unnecessary tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, saying that actions of the international community, including the European Union, often led to the threat of new crises.
Speaking after talks with Milorad Dodik, the president of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Serbian Republic, Minister Szijjártó told a joint press conference that peace and stability in the Western Balkans were key to those of the continent. Hungary will do everything in its power to promote it during its EU presidency starting in July, he added. Speeding up EU enlargement is one of the best ways to allay tensions, Minister Szijjártó said. “Unfortunately, European decisions often end up ruining immediately the hard-won fragile results in the region.” Bosnia and Herzegovina started accession negotiations in March, and was progressing well amid “a consensus of every entity on becoming an EU member as soon as possible”, Szijjártó said. “That harmony … was ruined by the High Representative’s decision to interfere in Bosnia-Herzegovina’s internal affairs by changing the election law unilaterally, aggressively, and under his authority,” Szijjártó said, referring to the Office of the High Representative tasked with implementing the civilian aspects of the peace agreement ending the war in the Balkans. A UN proposal on a declaration on the Srebrenica massacre, “practically demonising the entire Serbian nation”, is having a similar effect, Szijjártó said. Hungary will vote against the proposal, he said.
International political players should stop stoking tensions in Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as interfering in its internal affairs, he said. They “must give back Bosnia-Herzegovina’s sovereignty and refrain from hindering a swift European integration,” he added.
“Hungary will do everything in its power to achieve that, and we aim to convene the first inter-governmental meeting during its tenure,” he said. Meanwhile, Hungary remains committed to the “best, most effective and highest-level cooperation between Hungary and the Republika Sprska,” he said. Commenting on the EU adopting the New Pact on Migration and Asylum on Tuesday, Szijjártó said Hungary would not allow illegal immigrants into the country, “no matter how aggressive they are in Brussels”. Hungary’s stance is “definitive and unchangeable” as it had been legitimised by a referendum, he insisted. At a referendum on migration, Hungarians said illegal migrants were not allowed into the country, and they rejected all redistribution schemes, he said. Hungarians will decide on who to accept into the country, and “we will defend ourselves by physical and legal means”, he said.