Hungary wants to speed up the EU accession of the Western Balkans, says FM Szijjártó in Bosnia

Peace and stability in the Western Balkans is in Hungary’s national interest, and the government is working at full force to speed up the European Union accession of countries in the region, the foreign minister said on Friday.

Regional stability important

The ministry cited Péter Szijjártó as telling a joint press conference with Milorad Dodik, president of Republika Srpska, that the importance of regional stability and calm was continually growing in the current era of dangers.

He said that Hungary, in line with its responsible neighbourhood policy and also in its capacity as the current president of the European Council, was working to speed up EU enlargement.

“We believe the EU needs the Western Ballans because we need the freshness, dynamism and new impetus that could come from the region,” he added.

Szijjártó said it was disappointing that the candidate countries of the region had been waiting for accession for more than 14 years.

It is important that EU members and Brussels institutions should respect the decisions of Western Balkans residents, he said, adding that every nation has the right to decide about its own future and decide its leaders.

“As a result, we continue cooperation on the grounds of mutual respect with Western Balkans countries, including Bosnia-Herzegovina, and with the two entities in the country,” he said. “We continue to oppose that certain western European countries lecture and threaten Western Balkan leaders and they even bring up the prospect of introducing sanctions,” he added.

Successful cooperation

He praised the success of cooperation between Hungary and Republika Srpska.

As a result of a joint agricultural tender, farmers in Republika Srpska carried out more than 40 million euros worth of investment, which involved purchasing 4,700 pieces of agricultural equipment from 54 Hungarian companies, he said.

“In line with an earlier agreement, Hungarian companies joined three important development projects that were originally going to be financed by various German banks and institutions,” he said. “After the Germans have practically exited these projects, Hungarian companies are going to build a solar park, a wind farm and a waste water treatment plant in Republika Srpska,” he added.