Peter Szijjarto (BETAPHOTO/HINA/Dario GRZELJ)
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in Skopje on June 13 that only a minority of EU member states supported the Union’s enlargement to the Western Balkans.
At a joint press conference with North Macedonian Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski, Szijjarto said that while the EU publicly claimed support for enlargement, behind closed doors, countries that truly supported the process were a minority.
The MIA news agency quoted Szijjarto as stressing that if the EU had been sincere in its intention to accept North Macedonia, it would not have waited 20 years to do so. “Bulgaria is indeed openly obstructing your integration efforts, but you have not been standing in line for 20 years only because of Bulgarian opposition. Don’t be offended, but I must say the situation is much more difficult. At this moment, the EU member states that support enlargement to the Western Balkans are in the minority,” Szijjarto said.
The Hungarian minister also said that during its EU presidency, his country tried to accelerate the accession process for the Western Balkans, but “repeatedly ran into walls”, the same walls “erected by the countries that publicly support the process.”
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