Instead of education from Brussels, dialogue and understanding is needed with regard to Bosnia-Herzegovina

At this week’s plenary session in Strasbourg, the European Parliament debated and voted on the annual report on Bosnia and Herzegovina. Kinga Gál, the president of the Fidesz European Parliament group, emphasized in her speech that the report is unbalanced and insensitive to the complex problems of the region, thereby only fueling the conflicts in the Balkans. The politician called it unacceptable that the left-wing majority of the EP attacks EU-Hungarian companies for party interests in an enlargement report.

“In the current geopolitical situation, an approach that shows sensitivity to the complex problems of the Western Balkans would be needed,” emphasized MEP Kinga Gál. She underlined: the report, on the contrary, is insensitive to the problems of the region, only intensifying the conflicts in the region.

Kinga Gál stressed: the Hungarian position is that instead of education and threats of sanctions, a dialogue based on mutual understanding is needed. “This policy is proven by the fact that two of the three agreements concluded in the Berlin process were accepted by the Bosnian Serbs thanks to Hungarian mediation,” she pointed out.

Kinga Gál called it unacceptable that the left-wing majority of the European Parliament asserts party interests in the report, for example when, on the initiative of Katalin Cseh, it criticizes EU Hungarian companies on political grounds, confusing them with Chinese companies. “Furthermore, it is inappropriate that this report is also used for ideologically-based attacks on Olivér Várhelyi Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement , who is doing outstanding work for the region,” she added.

According to MEP Kinga Gál, substantial support is needed for the Western Balkan countries, the best means of which is to speed up the enlargement process and ensure a credible accession perspective. From this point of view, she considers the annual report on Albania, which was also voted on today in the EP, to be forward-looking.