President Novák discusses migration, EU membership in Skopje
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The issue of illegal migration is being overshadowed by the ongoing war, President Katalin Novák said in Skopje on Monday.
President Novák
Good relations with North Macedonia are crucial to Hungary, Novák told a joint press conference with Stevo Pendarovski, her North Macedonian counterpart. She added that the integration of the Western Balkans was in the interest of all of Europe.
Novák said the most important topic she and Pendarovski had discussed was the ongoing war in Ukraine. She said they both condemned Russian aggression and stood by Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
She added that an urgent ceasefire in Ukraine and a start to peace talks was in Hungary’s and North Macedonia’s shared interest.
Novák also noted that Hungary was punching above its weight in humanitarian assistance, having welcomed over a million refugees from Ukraine since the start of the war.
Another important topic, Novák said, was North Macedonia’s European Union integration, arguing that stability in the Western Balkans was key to Europe’s security and the fight against illegal migration.
She said it was unfair to make North Macedonia wait too long to be granted EU membership, warning that this could undermine the population’s enthusiasm for joining the bloc.
Concerning their talks on the issue of illegal migration, Novák noted that last year more than twice as many migrants had arrived at the EU’s borders via the Western Balkan migrant route as in 2021.
Novák said she and Pendarovski were in agreement that the root causes of migration needed to be addressed in the migrants’ countries of origin and that illegal migration needed to be stopped outside of Europe’s external borders.
She noted that there were 30 Hungarian police officers helping to patrol the North Macedonian-Greek border.
Novák said she had briefed Pendarovski on Hungary’s demographic policy and family support system, adding that they had also reviewed the results of their two countries’ cooperation.
