The foreign minister expressed his regret at the Budapest Balkans Forum panel discussion that no new member state has joined the European Union for a long time, while the community is in a terrible state economically and in terms of security, according to the ministry's statement.
"It is obvious that we are in a much worse situation than before. It is obvious that we need a boost, some new energy, something that will put us in a better shape," he said, adding that this momentum could only come from the Western Balkans. In this context, he pointed out that the region's countries have been waiting for membership for 14.5 years on average.
He slammed the hypocrisy of certain member states, which talk very differently in public from what they say behind closed doors. "When they speak publicly, they are always positive about the enlargement [...] but when we come together, the 27 of us behind closed doors, then we who support the enlargement find ourselves in the minority," he said.
When it comes to the point, when we must talk about real issues, when it's no longer just about communication, propaganda, and empty phrases, the majority of member states oppose enlargement,
he added.
We mustn't shame and humiliate the countries of the Western Balkans, and misleading them is tantamount to humiliation,
he continued.
He then called it impossible for Ukraine to join the European Union before the Western Balkans countries.
In this regard, Peter Szijjarto highlighted the importance of the merit-based integration process, which European politicians often talk about. He argued that this principle should be applied to all candidate countries, pointing out that
Ukraine is hardly in a better position to meet the accession criteria than the Western Balkans countries.
"If we equate merit with whether a country is at war or not, then we should say this openly and stop using hypocritical words," he stated.
Peter Szijjarto emphasized that by admitting the Western Balkans countries, the EU would not only increase its number of member states but would also significantly strengthen the bloc. "It is time for the Western Balkans countries to join so that we can make the European Union stronger," he said, pointing out that this is urgently needed since both the United States and China have pulled ahead in the global economy.
In his view, one of the main reasons for this is that the European Commission failed to take appropriate measures in response to U.S. policies favoring domestic companies, just as it is failing to act in time now.
"We have known since November that Donald Trump is the new president of the United States. He has been pursuing highly patriotic policies, we have known this since 2016. That’s when he first took office, and a lot of time has passed since then. And since the beginning of the campaign, we have known that he would continue the same approach. We knew that he wanted to introduce tariffs. We have known all this for months, and now we look on in great surprise that it has happened," he said.
Why did the European Commission not act proactively and set up a coordination platform? We were observing events from the trenches. This is not the right approach,
he added.
Cover photo: Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (Source: Facebook)
