Hungary supports swift European Union membership for the Balkan countries and believes that the bloc should give the region access to development funds in advance instead of sending all the money to Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday.
"Accordingly, whatever is said in Brussels, we are in favour of rapid membership of the European Union for the Balkans and for Bosnia and Herzegovina. We believe that cohesion funding should be provided now, without waiting for full membership. Access to development funds must be brought forward; not all the money should go only to Ukraine, but there must also be investment in security and development in the Balkans," Orban was quoted as saying by the Hungarian government's website after his talks with Borjana Kirsto, the chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Orban added that the EU needs the Balkans more than they need it because it is losing its competitiveness, and "new players" could give "dynamics" to the EU.
In July 2013, Croatia became the first of the region's countries to join the union. As many as five Balkan states — Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina — have been granted official candidate status. The European Union demands that all countries first undergo certain reforms to meet the bloc's standards during the official negotiating process.