Hungarian FM meets Western Balkan counterparts in New York

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó met counterparts from several countries as well as deputy secretary-generals of the United Nations in New York on Friday.

Supporting the European integration of the Western Balkans is a key objective of Hungary’s foreign policy, Szijjártó said after talks with Nikola Selakovic, the foreign minister of Serbia, and Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, the president of Kosovo.

Serbia is a key country for the region, the European integration of which is “clearly in Europe’s interest”, Szijjártó said, and insisted that “the community could not in fact be strengthened without Serbia joining”.

He warned that further delays in the integration process could undermine the European Union’s credibility in the Western Balkans, and added that “unless the EU takes steps, others will take over its role in the region”.

Hungarian FM in New York: any cooperation with Taliban must be tied to strict conditions

After talks with the foreign minister of Qatar, Szijjártó said that Hungary had in recent years built “useful” cooperation, based on mutual respect, with Gulf countries.