Hungarian foreign minister meets with his Macedonian counterpart in Budapest

Budapest (MTI) – Countries in the Visegrád cooperation have proposed that the European Union should build closer ties with Macedonia, foreign minister Péter Szijjártó said on Thursday, following talks with Nikola Poposki, his Macedonian counterpart.

Hungary is loyal to “countries bearing the largest burden in the migration crisis”, and continues to support Macedonia’s European and NATO integration, Szijjarto said. “Macedonia should have been invited to join NATO long ago, and the EU should have started accession talks at least six years ago,” he insisted.

Szijjártó argued that the EU now relies on countries outside the community to ensure protection of its borders. Crises such as the current one reveal that “the larger an integration, the stronger it will be”, the minister said.

Szijjártó also added that Hungary is ready to provide “all assistance” to Macedonia to protect its borders, either in the form of equipment or human resources.

Poposki said it was not acceptable that the “largest burden” of the migration crisis should be borne by a country which is not even a member of the community. As for the migrants, he said people coming from war zones should be treated separately from economic immigrants. He also urged that Greece should enforce international regulations.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters