Hungary will give every assistance with Serbia’s EU accession, and would find it unacceptable should any Member State or EU institution block this process, Péter Szijjártó said at the Brussels meeting of the Foreign Ministers of EU Member States upon talking to the Hungarian news agency MTI.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade took the view that the fastest path leading to the stability of the Western Balkans is the continuation of the Euro-Atlantic integration process. Hungary has a vested interest in the countries of the Western Balkans making progress in the integration processes within the shortest possible time.

Hungary has a national security and strategic interest in the region’s stability also on account of the fact that it neighbours Serbia, the Minister stressed.

The Minister informed MTI that the opportunity has now emerged for opening EU accession chapter 23 concerned with the judiciary and fundamental rights and chapter 24 relating to the freedom and security of national minorities in the talks with Serbia, which Hungary had urged for quite some time.

Serbia has built an exemplary relationship with the Hungarian national community, Mr Szijjártó said, adding: if every neighbouring country had built relations of this nature with the Hungarian national communities living in their territories, there would be fewer problems today in the Carpathian Basin.

In elaborating upon the details of the meeting, he said that a meeting will be held on Monday with the participation of the Foreign Ministers of the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council, a political and economic alliance of six Gulf countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Saudi Arabia. Mr Szijjártó took the view: there is a need for enhancing cooperation between the partner countries on the issue of immigration, among others.

"Our task is not to provide a new life for immigrants in Europe, but to help them to remain as close to their homes as possible and to help them to return there after the resolution of the conflicts”, he said.

Hungary is proposing closer cooperation between the EU and the Gulf countries also in providing support for Jordan, Lebanon and the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan which offer shelter to millions of refugees, Mr Szijjártó said.

The Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade believes that cooperation should also be enhanced in the fight against terrorism as the terrorist organisation Islamic State also poses a major threat to the countries of the Persian Gulf, similar to Europe.

Hungary is committed to upgrading the fight against terrorism, and urges further cooperation between the countries of the Council, the Minister said.

The Minister informed the news agency that the Gulf region is the European Union’s fifth largest export market, and the European Union is the Gulf region’s number one trade partner. He said that economic cooperation should be increased because the free trade negotiations came to a halt, and the joint action programme between the two regions expired in 2013.

Hungary is urging both parties to settle their contractual relations by manifesting greater flexibility as these constitute the basis for economic and trade cooperation, Mr Szijjártó stressed.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)