Paris, 26 June 2024 (MIA) – Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó, said Wednesday that during Hungary's EU Presidency, the Union's enlargement in the region will speed up and inter-governmental talks with all five Western Balkans membership candidates will be held.  

"Hungary will also strive to start substantive talks with the new, strongly pro-integration government of North Macedonia," Szijjártó told Wednesday's conference of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris. 

He noted that new chapters in the accession negotiations will be opened with Serbia, and at least seven chapters are planned to be closed with Montenegro. Hungary also plans to open the first chapters with Albania, and adopt the negotiating framework with Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

"Hungary is also aiding the process by sending experts and by training officials to navigate the complicated accession process," said Szijjártó.

He pointed out that the integration of the five Balkan countries in the EU "is in the economic as well as political and security interest of Hungary", whose investments in the region have reached EUR 2.5 billion, and trade has grown four-fold since 2010, to over EUR 7 billion. 

According to him, central Europe and the Western Balkans could be a “bridge” between East and West, much needed “for a return to East-West cooperation based on mutual respect, which could show the way out of the current turbulent era riddled with crises.”

"Hungary is ready to take on that role and support Western Balkan countries in acting similarly," Szijjártó said.  

Photo: EPA