Hungarian minister: Breakthrough achieved in Western Balkans enlargement under Hungary’s leadership

Enlargement policy and advancing enlargement in the Western Balkans have been among the key priorities of the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union, the EU affairs minister said in Brussels on Tuesday, adding that the Hungarian presidency had been successful in accomplishing this task.

The European Union achieved a breakthrough in the area of enlargement during the Hungarian presidency, János Bóka told a joint press conference with EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos after a meeting of the General Affairs Council.

Two intergovernmental conferences were held with Albania during the Hungarian presidency where two clusters were opened, he said. Also, an intergovernmental conference was held with Montenegro, which has led to the closing of accession chapters, and after three years, progress has also been made on Serbia’s EU integration, he added.

Boka said this opened the door to holding an intergovernmental conference with Serbia in the first months of 2025 where a new cluster could be opened.

He said Wednesday’s EU-Western Balkans summit in Brussels would give EU leaders an opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to the Western Balkans’ EU integration.

Meanwhile, Boka said EU affairs ministers had also discussed EU-UK and EU-Switzerland relations. He said both countries were important allies of the bloc, expressing hope that that talks with Switzerland that started in the spring could be concluded this year.

Concerning the Dec 19 European Council summit, Boka said EU leaders are set to discuss the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, including the war in Gaza and the de-escalation efforts between Israel and Lebanon.

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