FM Szijjártó: Brussels bureaucrats “boycotting” EU enlargement in the Western Balkans

Hungary is working on a broad intergovernmental economic cooperation agreement with Montenegro that will give Hungarian companies a bigger role in digital and infrastructure developments there, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said after a meeting with his Montenegrin counterpart, Filip Ivanovic, in Budapest on Thursday.

In a statement issued by his ministry, Szijjártó noted investments by Hungarian companies in Montenegro’s IT, telecommunications and financial sectors. He added that Hungary’s exports to Montenegro had exceeded EUR 100m last year, a new record.

Szijjártó said it was a matter of pride that Montenegro had closed three chapters of its European Union accession negotiation chapters during Hungary’s EU presidency in the second half of 2024. He added that the EU needed new impetus that could only come from the Western Balkans.

Brussels boycotting the accession of the Western Balkans

He called out bureaucrats in Brussels and a number of member states for “boycotting” EU enlargement in the region, while the countries there suffered “false promises and lecturing”. While the Western Balkan countries have waited more than 14 years, on average, to join the EU, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said Ukraine could join by 2030, he said. “We firmly reject that double standard,” he added.