The European Parliament should not block the accession of the Western Balkan countries

The plenary session of the European Parliament adopted the 2021 country reports for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Kosovo. Fidesz MEPs voted against the adoption of all three country reports, as they hinder the progress of countries wishing to join the EU instead of encouraging enlargement.

“The accession of Western Balkans to the EU is a story of missed opportunities”, MEP Balázs Hidvéghi noted in his plenary speech. “The civil war in Yugoslavia was brought to an end by the intervention of the United States because Europe was unable to bring peace. And EU leaders have learned nothing from the mistakes of that time. Instead of striving for constructive dialogue with the leaders of the Western Balkan countries, they are constantly lecturing them.”

In the debate on Serbia’s country report, MEP Andor Deli stressed that “the report presented to us should be about how the European Parliament will help Serbia to become a member of the EU as soon as possible! Instead, however, the report lectures, dictates and contains unacceptable exaggerations that only serve to further slow down the country’s accession process, call into question the credibility of the EU, and alienate the citizens of Serbia. This goes against the strategic interests of both Serbia and the EU”.

“The Hungarian government as well as members of the governing party fully support Serbia’s accession to the EU. That is why this report is unacceptable to us. We are convinced that Serbia deserves much more support and understanding”, concluded the MEP of Vojvodina origin.

MEP Kinga Gál stressed that “the stability of the Western Balkans is a key issue for the EU. Instead of encouraging this, the text of the reports on Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo attacks Hungary. It is absurd that in all of these reports, Hungary is presented as an enabler, together with Serbia, of the geopolitical goals of Russia and China. Furthermore, the unfounded criticism of Commissioner for Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi and the accusation that he is biased towards Serbia is unacceptable. We reject these ridiculous allegations”.