“The integration of the Western Balkan region is in the strategic interests of the European Union from both an economic and security policy perspective, and accordingly it must be accelerated”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Thursday in Budapest at the third Western Balkan Conference.

At the conference entitled “To Integration through Business”, organised by the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the Minister said that the integration of the Western Balkans could contribute to improving the EU’s competitiveness.

“Hungary is this region’s number one trade partner from among its neighbouring countries, with a value exceeding 4 billion euros”, he added.

Mr. Szijjártó pointed out that the EU will be weakened as a result of the exit of the United Kingdom, and it is obvious that if 14 percent of the EU’s economic performance exits the Union, it means various economic challenges. “The enlargement of the EU with the Western Balkan region could be a response to these challenges, and this is something that the countries of the Visegrád Group (V4) support, but anti-enlargement countries are currently in the majority within the EU”, he explained.

The Minister said Hungary has called on European institutions to accelerate the enlargement process. “It has requested that all of the negotiation chapters with both Serbia and Montenegro be opened. Hungary’s measures include delegating an expert to every Western Balkan country, and it is the only country to have done so”, he said.

“Security represents an increasing challenge, towards which Hungary is providing assistance: 15 Hungarian police officers are working on Serbia’s southern border, 20 on North Macedonia’s border, and 160 soldiers are performing their duties within the framework of the UN mission in Bosnia-Hercegovina; 392 Hungarian soldiers are deployed with the KFOR mission in Kosovo, which will be supplemented by a further 60, and Hungary has also applied for the post of commander”, he pointed out.

The Minister also spoke about the fact that there is propaganda going on in Europe according to which migration and migration pressure has come to an end, and the European Commission never wanted migrants. “However, 270 thousand illegal migrants have been apprehended in Turkey and there are currently 70 thousand migrants on the Greek islands. The number of people crossing the Turkish-Greek land border is increasing, the inflow into North Macedonia and Serbia is continuous, and 25 thousand people have become trapped in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Increasing numbers of illegal migrants want to get from Serbia to Hungary, and this all clearly doesn’t indicate that migration pressure has come to an end”, the Minister said.

(MTI)