Fidesz MEP: grant Bosnia-Herzegovina EU candidate member status ‘now’

Balázs Hidvéghi, MEP of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz, urged that the European Union should grant Bosnia-Herzegovina candidate member status “now”, at a plenary session of the European Parliament.

In his address, recorded in a video and published on Facebook late on Tuesday, Hidvéghi said “the story of the European integration of the Balkans is a story of missed opportunities” and insisted that back in the 1990’s “the United States in the end that brokered peace because Europe failed to do so”.

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“And still, the EU does not seem to have learnt from that lesson… instead of speeding up the process, Brussels keeps on lecturing those countries,” he said. “The EU should stabilise and pacify the region and a real prospect of EU membership can do that”, he added. Hidvéghi said “the proposition of sanctions for instance against elected leaders leads nowhere … political threats create distrust and are counter-productive”.

He noted that a route of illegal migration crossed Bosnia-Herzegovina, “therefore its integration into the EU, with enforced border protection, would contribute to stability for the local people, as well as for Europe as a whole”. “We cannot waste any more opportunities,” he insisted.

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Source: MTI