Szijjarto: Hungary pulling its weight in Western Balkans stabilisation, development

One of Hungary’s top priorities during its presidency of the Council of the European Union is to accelerate the bloc’s enlargement in the Western Balkans, Szijjarto told a joint press conference with Milorad Dodik, the president of the Republika Srpska of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“We do all this in the framework of our responsible neighbourhood policy, knowing that peace and stability in the Western Balkans is in Hungary’s national interest as well,” the minister said.

“But the truth is that there is enormous hypocrisy in the European Union when it comes to enlargement,” he said, arguing that a significant number of member states held a different stance in public than behind closed doors. He noted that the Western Balkan candidate countries have been waiting to join the bloc for 14 years on average.

“We see this as disrespectful and demeaning behaviour, so we’re calling on Brussels and EU member states to approach the Western Balkan countries and nations with respect,” Szijjarto said.

He said it was important to respect the decisions of the Western Balkan nations on matter such as the leaders they chose.

“And so it’s important to speak to the Western Balkan leaders with respect,” he said, adding that “we should finally leave behind the lecturing … and threats of sanctions”.

“Cooperation between Hungary and the Bosnian Serb Republic has always been based on mutual respect … and this has yielded considerable successes in recent years,” he said.

Szijjarto said Hungary and the Republika Srpska have agreed to further bolster bilateral economic cooperation, building on their successful agricultural development programme. As part of this scheme, the Hungarian government provided 26.5 million euros in support for Bosnian Serb farmers, which they spent on purchasing 4,700 pieces of agricultural equipment produced in Hungary, the minister said. Szijjarto called this a “typical win-win situation”, adding that they had decided to extend the scheme.

Meanwhile, he said Hungarian companies are involved in the preparations for the construction of a solar park, a wind farm and a sewage treatment plant in the Republika Srpska.