Hungarian foreign minister proposes urgent enlargement of EU

Warsaw, November 29 (MTI) – The European Union should be enlarged “immediately”, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Warsaw on Tuesday.

Countries in the Visegrad cooperation are worried over remarks by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker suggesting that the community would not be enlarged in the next five years, Szijjártó said.

The EU should “not be enlarged within five years but immediately,” Szijjártó insisted. He argued that enlargement was key to strengthening the community, and slowing that process down would entail security and economic risks.

To accelerate the enlargement process, Hungary suggests that the EU should start accession talks with Serbia on three further chapters before the end of this year, namely on public procurement, education and R+D, Szijjártó said. Furthermore, the EU should start accession talks with Albania as soon as that country is ready, rather than in 2018, and Greece should be convinced not to block Macedonia’s integration any further, the minister said.

The press conference was attended by foreign ministers of the other three Visegrad countries — Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia — as well as Federica Mogherini, high commissioner of the EU.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI