In a telephone interview on Thursday, Minister of State for EU Affairs at the Prime Minister’s Office Takács Szabolcs said that the Strategy for the Danube Region and its implementation is of priority importance to Hungary.
The Minister of State was in the Germany city of Ulm, where he attended the fourth annual forum of the Strategy for the Danube Region, and an informal meeting of Ministers for EU funds. Following his meetings, Mr. Takács said that the Strategy is also important to Hungary, because it was adopted during the Hungarian EU presidency in 2011, and ever since Hungary has been very active in the initiative’s implementation. EU Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Crețu also attended the meeting.
Mr. Takács said that one of the issues raised at the conference was how EU development funds could be harmonised with implementation of the strategy. In reference to this, the Minister of State gave a presentation at the conference on Hungary’s good cooperation with the Czech Republic in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency, with Slovakia in the area of water management, and with Romania on flood-protection issues.
In addition to EU partner countries, candidate countries were also represented at the forum. Hungary, for example, is conducting cross-border cooperation with Transcarpathia and the Bereg region, and is cooperating with Bosnia and Herzegovina on flood protection issues.
The Minister of State also pointed out that in 2017 the sixth annual forum will be held in Budapest.
On the sidelines of the forum, Mr. Takács held talks with Serbian Minister for EU Integration Jadranka Joksimović, where they reviewed current questions on Hungarian-Serbian relations. Hungary welcomes the fact that Serbia’s accession negotiations could be accelerated, Mr. Takács stressed. He added that Hungary will continue supporting Serbia’s integration, as this is an issue of strategic importance in Hungarian foreign policy.
Migration was also a topic in the meeting, at which Mr. Takács said that it has not had a negative impact on Hungarian-Serbian relations, adding that “the Serbs understand the Hungarian viewpoint”. He also noted that “Europe woke up too late”; both Hungary and Serbia have been urging EU-level talks on the Western Balkan migration route.
He remarked that from the viewpoint of Serbia becoming an EU Member State it is important for Hungary to ensure that the Hungarian community in Vojvodina receives necessary guarantees on minority rights.
The Minister of State also held talks with the ministers for EU Affairs of the Bavarian and the Baden-Württemberg governments. In relation to this he said that he supports the idea of establishing a place at the Brussels representation of Baden-Württemberg, where the interests of countries involved in the Strategy for the Danube Region could be harmonised by EU-level decision making.
The migration crisis was also discussed in this meeting, and the Minister of State informed the German ministers that Hungary has consistently complied with relevant EU rules, and the efforts of the country to protect the EU’s external borders should be appreciated. Hungary has done much to accommodate its European partners: it is ready to consider a European solution, but to achieve this the standpoints of Central European countries also need to be taken into consideration, Mr. Takács underlined.