Hungarian state secretary calls for cooperation with Balkans nations

There is still a pressing need for the Balkans nations to join forces and for the European Union to handle these countries as full-fledged members, the state secretary in charge of churches, minorities and civil affairs said on Thursday at an event commemorating the anniversary of the 1444 battle of Varna.

Miklos Soltész said if nations in the Balkans are not treated as “allies and full-fledged partners” then “there will be trouble once again” in the region. Western Europe, however, has failed to recognise this threat, he said.

The government helps ethnic Bulgarians living in Hungary to preserve their mother tongue and supports the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Hungary because Bulgarian Christians deserve the same rights and opportunities as other long-standing churches in Hungary, Soltész told the press after a conference marking the 575th anniversary of the battle.