Peter Szijjarto25th March 2025 – (Budapest) Hungary will not back Ukraine’s swift accession to the European Union (EU) prior to the integration of Western Balkan countries, stated Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Peter Szijjarto, on Monday.
During a joint press conference in Budapest with North Macedonian Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski, Szijjarto emphasised, “I want to make it unequivocally clear that Ukraine’s EU membership is not on the agenda before that of the Western Balkans.”
He argued that the EU stands to gain both economically and strategically from the inclusion of Western Balkan nations.
Szijjarto expressed his concerns over what he termed the “enormous pressure” from Brussels to expedite Ukraine’s membership process. He highlighted what he perceived as a “double standard” in the EU’s enlargement policy, pointing out that North Macedonia has been a candidate for EU membership for two decades without progress.