Belgrade, 12 December 2023 (MIA) - Hungary's Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has said that the European Union needs the energy and freshness of the Western Balkans amid the difficult situation, MIA reports from Belgrade.

After the meeting of the General Affairs Council (GAC) in Brussels, FM Szijjártó said Europe will not be whole unless the Western Balkans is integrated.

"This is important for economic development, security and people's communication," he added.

According to him, trust in the EU is dropping in the countries of the Western Balkans.

"Instead of seeing fellow ministers crying over the fact that other global political players want to integrate the Western Balkans, we should have already admitted four countries in the EU. Serbia is of crucial importance, Montenegro has opened all chapters, North Macedonia was a candidate for 18 years, and we did not open negotiations with Albania for nine years," noted Szijjártó.

He added, "We can only thank the countries that are against enlargement for the drop in the EU support of citizens in the Western Balkans".

Photo: MIA archive