Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has called it “unacceptable and shameful” that European Union enlargement was advancing so slowly.
After meeting Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama during his official visit to Tirana, Albania on Friday, PM Orbán said it had taken Albania 13 years to get on the accession negotiating track with the EU. It is only in the Balkans that Europe will find new impetus for economic growth and maintaining its competitiveness, he said, calling for the integration of the region to be speeded up. Hungary “strongly supports” Albania’s accession process, he added. PM Orbán said there was serious restructuring going on in the global economy which highlighted Europe’s weaknesses, and the continent was becoming less competitive at the global level. This is a reason to create the conditions for Albania and the Western Balkan region’s integration, he said, adding that it was central Europe that was currently sustaining the EU’s dynamism. Europe needs to be strengthened both in terms of its economy and security, he said. But Western Europe remains unconvinced that enlargement promotes integration, so “there is more work to do” in the interest of Albania’s EU membership as well, PM Orbán said.