„Slow pace of EU enlargement process is unacceptable and shameful”

Only in the Balkans will Europe find economic growth potential, and maintaining its competitiveness calls for the speeding up of the region's integration, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in Tirana.

Orbán Viktor Albániában Fotó: Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán

The slow pace of the European Union's enlargement process is unacceptable and shameful, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in Tirana on Friday, after holding talks with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama during an official visit to Albania.

He recalled that it took 13 years for Albania to start accession negotiations with the EU.

It is only in the Balkans where Europe will find economic growth potential, and maintaining its competitiveness calls for the speeding up of the region's integration 

Viktor Orban said, reaffirming that Hungary continues to strongly support Albania's accession process.

The restructuring going on in the global economy seriously affects Europe, pointing to the European region's weaknesses and its deteriorating competitiveness on the global stage, Hungary's premier said. In this context, the integration of Albania and the Western Balkans should be seen as an opportunity, he added.  Currently, it is Central Europe that is sustaining the European Union's dynamism, he noted.

The European region needs to be strengthened both in terms of its economy and security, he said.

In Western Europe, however, there remains a lack of conviction that enlargement promotes integration, so the issue must be kept on the agenda, and more work should be done for Albania's EU membership,

Mr Orban pointed out. He said Hungary supports the idea that by 2030, the level of funding from the European Union's Cohesion Fund should proportionally reach the same level as that of former accession countries. Hungary's government has also welcomed the proposal that EU membership should not be a precondition for a country to join the Schengen area, he added. 

During his official visit in Tirana, Hungary's prime minister also met Lindita Nikolla, speaker of Albania's parliament. 

During the visit the Hungarian and Albanian delegation signed a number of cooperation agreements, covering water industry and water management, among other fields, and European integration. Minister for Foreign affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto and Economic Development Minister Marton Nagy were also members of the Hungarian delegation. A joint economic committee set up by the two governments has been in place for ten years.

Viktor Orban and his Albanian counterpart stated that major results have been achieved in bilateral cooperation in recent years, and the two leaders agreed to continue this work in the coming years.

Hungary's prime minister noted that Hungary and Albania are also bound by their shared history of suffering, as both countries had been under communist rule for 40 years. 

He said he was pleased to hear Edi Rama say that Hungarian investors are characterised by a respectful attitude, and expressed confidence that this will remain the case. He also invited Albanian investors to come to Hungary, saying that the country is ready to receive them.

Both see the two countries as sharing a deeper relationship than traditional bilateral relations. PM Rama is grateful for Viktor Orban's long-standing faith in Albania, and that the cooperation has taken a new direction since their last meeting in Budapest. He also highlighted the Hungarian government's support in EU integration, citing the sending of experts and the transferring of experience in accession areas where Albania needed it, and Hungary's key role in establishing the fund to support Western Balkans integration. The relationship between the two countries is excellent, President Katalin Novak also visited Tirana recently, he pointed out.

Edi Rama values PM Orban's efforts as the foremost promoter of Hungarian investments in Albania. He pointed out that Hungarian businesses have brought many innovations to the country, Tirana is very satisfied with them, and especially values their respect for the laws and their attention to local interests. In return, Hungarian companies can feel at home in Albania, he emphasised.

The Hungarian presence in Albania is particularly outstanding in the field of telecommunications and the banking sector - here PM Rama mentioned the operations of 4iG Nyrt. and OTP Bank. New opportunities are opening up mainly in the fields of energy and tourism. Tourism serves as a bridge between the two countries, he said. On this topic his Hungarian counterpart said that although Hungary has no sea coast, tourism accounts for more than 11 per cent of gross national product.

In response to a press question, Edi Rama touched on the situation in Kosovo. He recalled that the international community had already outlined a proposal for a solution to the seriously escalating tensions between Kosovo and Serbia, and that this would be a historic opportunity for reconciliation. He believed that members of the Kosovo police who were arrested on Serbian territory should have been released because they had not committed a crime. He added that all possible channels will be used to make this happen as soon as possible.

Also in response to a question, Viktor Orban noted that he will soon meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, and that he hopes the mentioned problem will be resolved by then.

Both trade and bilateral relations between Tirana and Budapest are gradually developing - wrote the Oeconomus Economic Research Foundation in its analysis. Currently, there are 23 state, intergovernmental and interministerial agreements in force between us. Hungary clearly supports the accession of the Western Balkan states to the European Union, including the integration of Albania. Bilateral cooperation also extends to agreements in the fields of education, legal aid, culture, science, tax, investment protection and incentives, and extradition agreements.

Cover photo: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (Photo: Prime Minister's Press Office/Zoltan Fischer)