Speeding up the EU integration of Western Balkan countries is a priority of the Hungarian EU presidency, Peter Szijjarto said following the second EU-Albania intergovernmental conference. As the European Union is losing its competitiveness and weight in global politics and the world economy, it needs freshness, new energies and new impetus, which can come from its immediate neighbors in the Western Balkans, the minister pointed out.
Urgent action is needed to preserve the credibility of the enlargement policy,
Peter Szijjarto stressed, adding that enlargement procedures must be accelerated. Speeding up the EU integration of the Western Balkan countries is in Europe's interest.
The majority of member states say that enlargement should be a merit-based process, the Hungarian foreign minister said. In the case of Albania, the merits are tangible: be it economic, political or social, he said.
It is clear that Albania has done very well in terms of the conditions that the European Union has set in order to be able to open the negotiating chapters,
he said, stressing that it is a great privilege and honor for Hungary that substantive negotiations with Albania have started under Hungary's EU presidency. He recalled that the last time preparations for the accession of a candidate country, Croatia, were completed was in 2011, during the first Hungarian presidency. The Hungarian foreign minister expressed hope that we will not have to wait until the next Hungarian EU presidency before another country is able to join the European Union.
In his speech, Peter Szijjarto, who chaired the second EU-Albania intergovernmental conference, stressed that Hungary, which is in the immediate neighborhood of the Western Balkans, pursues a responsible neighborhood policy.
He knows very well how it feels when the Western Balkan region experiences a lack of peace, calm, development and stability. He said that the integration process contributes to making the Western Balkans more developed, stable and secure. This is why Hungary is committed to accompanying Albania on its path towards the European Union, he stressed.
The European Union and Albania can celebrate a landmark moment with the opening of the first chapters of Albania's accession talks, which means that the way is now clear for substantive negotiations, EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said at the press conference. Hungary's EU commissioner expressed his gratitude to the Hungarian presidency for opening the accession cluster, appreciating that the presidency started its six-month term with not only treating enlargement as a political priority but also making enormous efforts to move the institutional process forward.
"Thanks to the Hungarian presidency, it is now beyond question that enlargement is among the top three priorities for the EU and its leaders," he said. Europe cannot grow stronger without enlargement, the Hungarian EU commissioner added.
He highlighted that the EU adopted in April a six billion euro financial instrument to help the Western Balkans integrate into the EU. The Growth Plan will help speed up the reforms needed to enable the countries concerned to join the bloc as soon as possible, he explained. "The EU's financial instrument has allowed us to start building Europe in Albania," Varhelyi said, adding that this is because Albania has never been shy to do what the path to the EU requires.
The commissioner expressed hope that the work will continue, stressing that it means that with all the EU instruments at its disposal, Albania can prepare for becoming a member of the European Union by the end of the next mandate of the European Commission. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said there is no other future and no other way for his country but the European Union. He stressed that there is no plan B, only belonging to the European community. It is the only way, he underlined. The Albanian prime minister thanked the Hungarian EU presidency, which he said has played a very important role in advancing the accession process.
Cover photo: Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama at the second EU-Albania intergovernmental conference (Source: Facebook/Peter Szijjarto)
