Foreign minister confirms Hungary commitment to UN programme against illicit arms trade

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Tuesday confirmed Hungary’s continued contribution to the United Nations’ programme aimed at stopping illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.

Speaking at a conference in Paris attended by the foreign ministers of France, Germany and countries in the Western Balkans, Szijjártó said that the latter region had stopped “dangerous trends and developments by forming a line of defence for the European Union”.

“The threat of terrorism has never been this high in Europe and we must adapt to this challenge and focus efforts on restoring Europeans’ sense of security,” Szijjártó said, adding that “we must keep security and stability in the Western Balkans on the agenda, since it strongly impacts security in Europe as a whole.”

Szijjártó said speeding up the EU integration of the Western Balkans was “the best tool” to maintain security and stability in that region in the long run.

“We welcome Macedonia being on the cusp of NATO membership and we urge the European Union to start accession talks with Macedonia and Albania as early as next summer,” he said, congratulating Serbia and Montenegro on recently opening new chapters in their EU accession talks.