Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said Hungary will provide Bosnia and Herzegovina with all the support it needs to move forward in its EU integration process.
After meeting his Bosnian counterpart Elmedin Konaković in Budapest on Wednesday, Minister Szijjártó said that in Hungary’s view, “the European Union these days needs the integration of the Western Balkan countries more than they need EU membership”. He said that an action plan was signed on “sharing knowledge” on the integration process with Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had submitted its membership application 8 years ago. “It is now time to make real progress,” Szijjártó added. Under the plan, 50 experts will participate in training at the Hungarian Diplomatic Academy who are potential candidates to play a key role in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU accession talks. Speeding up the EU integration of the Western Balkans and advancing Bosnia and Herzegovina’s accession talks will be an important objective of Hungary’s upcoming EU presidency in the second half of 2024, said Szijjártó. He said Bosnia and Herzegovina’s stability was also key for Hungary, adding that Brussels’s “pro-migration policy” was making things difficult for the entire Western Balkan region.