Hungarian EU enlargement commissioner: Ten years of enlargement advances achieved in a single term

Oliver Várhelyi, the EU enlargement commissioner, said in Brussels on Monday that European Union integration, a priority of the Hungarian presidency, had advanced by ten years in a single term.

Várhelyi talks about EU enlargement

Briefing the European Parliament‘s foreign affairs committee, he called enlargement a down payment on the bloc’s future peace and economic prosperity.

In 2020 enlargement policy was revised to ensure procedures were made faster and more credible, with the rule of law placed at the centre of the accession process, he said.

He mentioned investments in connectivity, transport, digital energy and infrastructure and the mobilisation of private capital as potential advantages for aspiring members.

The past five years, he added, had seen a large proportion of EU investment plans made in connection with the Western Balkans and the Eastern and Southern regions.

Várhelyi said Serbia must speed up reforms and focus on the rule of law while seeking to normalise relations with Kosovo. Further, Belgrade must align itself with the EU’s foreign policy goals, adding that there was evidence, such as its “significant support” for Ukraine, that the country was oriented towards the EU.

Meanwhile, holders of a Kosovo passport are able to travel visa-free to the EU, he noted. Kosovo leaders, he added, must do more to win cross-party support for the implementation of reform and to ensure free speech.

Regarding Moldova, he noted the Oct 20 constitutional referendum with which the country opted to join the EU. Russia, he added, had mounted a “hybrid campaign” before the vote.