Good day, Ladies and Gentlemen,
As usual, I had a fantastic meeting with the Prime Minister of Albania. It is always a great pleasure when he comes here with his delegation, and it is a great opportunity for us to engage in deep discussion – not only on specific issues, but also on the European situation, the future of the Western Balkans, and the future of European politics in general. I am grateful to him for this. It is always good to have artists in politics, because they offer a different perspective, a different insight, a different kind of experience, which is very useful in such discussions. And in this sense we are fortunate that our guest has not come to politics from a traditional Hungarian legal or economic background. Over the years he has given me many insights that I have been able to use here in Hungarian government policy, and I would like to thank him for that.
Now, however, the roles were reversed: it was mainly not I who was asking him for help, but it is we who need to help our Albanian friends. This is because the countries of the Western Balkans have been waiting an average of fifteen years to join the European Union. There are enough problems in Europe, which I was able to talk about in Strasbourg, and so I will not repeat them here; but one of the most obvious remedies for the problems I mentioned there would be for the countries of the Western Balkans to be finally accepted into the European Union. This would give us fresh impetus, new energy and new economic opportunities.
Albania has performed excellently in the negotiations. If the process were really merit-based, as they say in Brussels, Albania would have been in the EU a long time ago. Unfortunately the obstacles rather tend to be political. It is very difficult to overcome and sidestep political reluctance or caution related to enlargement. I can certainly report one success, however, because in Luxembourg next Tuesday the first European Union–Albania intergovernmental conference will take place, where the first set of chapters for negotiation will be opened. We congratulate Prime Minister Rama and Albania, and we are proud that this moment is coming during Hungary’s rotating presidency of the EU. This is all the more important for us because you may remember that the last successful enlargement step also took place when we held the Presidency: when Croatia joined the European Union. Nothing has happened since then. Now we are happy that something important is happening again, and that it can happen again with our cooperation.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the spirit of responsible neighbourhood policy, Hungary urges the European Union to provide financial assistance to the countries of the Western Balkans as soon as possible, and not to wait until they have become members. There is the European instrument for growth, and there are other instruments through which the countries of the Western Balkans can obtain the financial resources they need for growth.
That is all I wanted to say about EU affairs. We also touched on bilateral issues, as Albania is a very important partner for us in terms of bilateral economic relations, with Hungarian companies playing a key role in key sectors. This is not an everyday matter, and it is a serious task for us too. It is important not only because of the success of Hungarian companies, but also because we want to build a reputation for future investments, for new investments. For this Hungarian companies need to perform well in Albania. I can report that, according to the negotiations, these companies are performing well. In the telecommunications market, 4iG is doing well, and in the pipeline there is a huge project to connect Albania and Egypt – Europe and Egypt – with a telecommunications network. Wizz Air is doing well, connecting more than fifty cities with Tirana, and this year OTP won the title of best digital and business bank in Albania. And there is Budapest Waterworks, which has played a key role in the modernisation of Tirana’s water system. We agreed with the Prime Minister that we will continue our bilateral cooperation. We also look forward to welcoming enquiries from the Albanian business world, and we are ready to play an even greater role in the modernisation of the Albanian economy.
Prime Minister, I am grateful for today’s successful discussions.