Foreign minister: Hungary won’t let anyone block Serbia’s European integration

Subotica (Szabadka), April 5 (MTI) – Hungary will not let any Brussels institution or European Union member state block Serbia’s European integration, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday.

After meeting István Pásztor, leader of the ethnic Hungarian VMSZ party of Vojvodina (Vajdaság/Délvidék), northern Serbia, Szijjártó told journalists that Belgrade deserved EU membership.

He praised VMSZ, a member of the country’s governing coalition, for its role in moving Serbia towards Serbia’s EU integration.

Hungarian-Serbian relations have reached a “historical summit” and the governments of Serbia and Hungary deserve full credit for this, he said.

Commenting on early general elections in Serbia and the local council and municipal elections in Vojvodina on April 24, Szijjártó said VMSZ was “the closest link” between Hungary and Serbia. The Vojvodina Hungarian community’s strong representation on a national and regional level is in the interest of both countries, Szijjártó said.

The Serbian-Hungarian inter-governmental committee for minority affairs met for the first time after five years in Subotica (Szabadka) on Monday, an event that Szijjártó welcomed.

He praised an agreement to open additional border crossing points.

Pásztor said that the stable and friendly partnership developed by Serbia and Hungary in today’s ever-changing and unpredictable world is particularly important for Vojvodina’s Hungarian community, as well as for all of Serbia’s citizens.