“The Visegrád Group countries recommend that the European Union should develop tighter cooperation with Macedonia”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Thursday in Budapest following a meeting with his Macedonian counterpart.
Hungary stands in solidarity with Europe and with those countries who bear the greatest burdens of the migration crisis, and will continue to assist Macedonia as it has done so far, the Minister highlighted.
“Hungary remains a committed supporter of Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic integration, and according to our standpoint the country should have been invited to join NATO years ago and negotiations on Macedonia’s accession to the European Union should have begun at least six years ago”, Mr. Szijjártó explained. Macedonia has already taken the necessary steps to achieve this, he said, calling it unacceptable that while the European Commission has recommended the commencement of accession talks on six consecutive occasions, this has not yet occurred.
According to the Foreign Minister, now that there is trouble it is clear how damaging the steps taken to delay integration have been. The current immigration crisis poses an as yet unsurmountable problem for the European Union and to prevent the EU from being defenceless it is now counting on the assistance of a country with which it has not even begun accession talks, he said. In Mr. Szijjártó’s view, serious crises like the current one inherently go hand in hand with the sobering realisation that the greater the integration, the more powerful the alliance.
Hungary greatly appreciates Macedonia’s efforts to reduce migration pressure, and behaviour that portrays the situation as if Macedonian police had “attacked innocent refugees” was hypocritical, the Hungarian Foreign Minister declared.
On the subject of the assistance Hungary is providing to Macedonia, Mr. Szijjártó said he had received a list of requests from his Macedonian counterpart and Hungary was prepared to provide all necessary assistance to protect the border. The list also includes technical equipment such as fencing materials, in addition to which Macedonia has also asked for human resources. Hungarian police have already helped in Macedonia previously and will be returning again in March; their numbers will depend on available accommodation, he added.
With regard to Hungarian-Macedonian relations, Mr. Szijjártó said that economic cooperation had been successful last year with a 16 percent increase in the volume of bilateral trade during the first 11 months of 2015. Hungarian enterprises regard Macedonia as a strategic market and could also play a role in modernising the country’s energy system, he added.
Hungary is undertaking the role of NATO-Liaison in Skopje in the interests of facilitating Macedonia’s NATO integration, he noted.
Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki said Macedonia wouldn’t like the migration crisis to be solved at the expense of other countries, but it is unacceptable for the greatest burden to be borne by a country that isn’t even a member of the European Union.
Mr. Poposki welcomed Hungary’s assistance towards his country’s Euro-Atlantic integration, adding that Macedonia has fulfilled the requested conditions, but NATO and the EU have been delaying the commencement of talks for years.
In reply to a question regarding border crossing, Mr. Poposki said that according to the EU’s definition, Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans are eligible to receive asylum status. Afghan immigrants had previously attempted to enter the country illegally in increasing numbers as a result of which their entrance has been suspended, but only on a temporary basis, he explained.
According to Mr. Poposki, those who can prove that they have arrived from a war zone should be separated from the economic immigrants. He also called on Greece to conform to international regulations.
He and his Hungarian negotiating partner had also discussed the possible recommencement of direct flights between Budapest and Skopje, the Macedonian Foreign Minister noted.