Hungarian FM Szijjártó: Brussels hypocritical on EU enlargement

Brussels and several European Union member states are being hypocritical on the issue of the bloc’s enlargement, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Monday, adding that this risked hurting the EU’s appeal in the Western Balkans, including North Macedonia.

Szijjártó forms judgement on EU

“The European Union needs freshness, new momentum, new strength, which it can get from the Western Balkans,” Szijjártó told a joint press conference with North Macedonian counterpart Timcho Mucunski in Budapest, according to a ministry statement. “So the EU today has a far greater interest in the accession of the Western Balkan countries than the other way round.”

“And we also see that several European Union member states are being extremely hypocritical on this issue, and this hypocrisy can destroy the EU’s appeal and credibility in the Western Balkans,” Szijjártó said. “And we want to prevent that from happening.”

He said EU leaders had long been calling for making membership in the bloc merit-based, adding that Hungary agreed with this, but wanted this principle to apply “in every case”.

“And the fact alone that a country is at war can’t be considered a merit in the integration process,” he said.

Szijjártó reaffirmed Hungary’s support for North Macedonia’s EU accession, saying that the two countries have signed an action plan on knowledge-sharing on the accession process. “Our interest lies in North Macedonia becoming a member of the European Union as soon as possible,” he said.

The minister welcomed the seven-fold increase in bilateral trade turnover since 2010, saying that they had discussed how to involve more Hungarian businesses in the development of North Macedonia’s infrastructure.