Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met Milorad Dodik, the Serbian member of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Presidency and the recently re-elected leader of Bosnian Serbs, in Budapest on Thursday for talks on the EU integration process of Western Balkan countries, as well as economic and energy security issues.
PM Orbán congratulated Dodik on his victory in the Bosnian Serb presidential elections. The leaders were in agreement that it was all the more important, amidst the current war and sanctions crisis, for Western Balkan countries to be integrated into the European Union as quickly as possible, and they welcomed the European Commission’s official proposal earlier this week on granting Bosnia-Herzegovina candidate status. PM Orbán and Dodik agreed to develop economic ties between Hungary and the Bosnian Serb community. Concerning energy, they discussed plans for joint projects that would ease the effects of the energy crisis in both Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary and agreed to specify the details in the weeks to come.