The reason for the failure of further enlargement so far, he added, was that neither Brussels nor some member states were honest on this matter, because in public they supported the process but behind closed doors they made more skeptical statements. „That is why it is unacceptable to us that the president of the European Council wants to postpone the date of admitting new members until 2030,” he said. The minister asked what the EU wanted to do in those seven years.
If NATO, which is a defense alliance, was able to include three Western Balkan countries, I think the European Union should be able to follow suit,
he said. „At every meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council, I listen to the lamentations of others that the Russians, the Turks, and I don’t know who else are gaining ground for themselves in the Western Balkans. It would be easy to counter this by, for example, admitting them to the European Union,” he concluded. Answering questions, Szijjarto confirmed that the government was indeed planning to buy Budapest Airport and that negotiations were underway, but that it would be too early to disclose details. He said the ownership of Hungary's largest airport was a strategic issue. On the ratification of Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership, he said it was a legitimate question for debate that the admission of the two countries would make the border between Russia and NATO several hundred kilometers longer, but nevertheless the government had submitted a proposal to parliament for approval of the ratification.
Cover photo: Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (left) receives his North Macedonian counterpart Bujar Osmani in his office on September 7, 2023 (Photo: MTI/Attila Kovacs)
Szóljon hozzá!
Jelenleg csak a hozzászólások egy kis részét látja. Hozzászóláshoz és a további kommentek megtekintéséhez lépjen be, vagy regisztráljon!