Hungarian Foreign Minister says his country's joining EU went smoothly
Somogyi wants closer ties with Croatia and Ukraine on Helsinki visit
|
|
|
Its nearly one year as a member of the European Union has not brought Hungary any big surprises, said the country’s Foreign Minister Ferenc Somogyi during a visit to Finland on Monday. He attributed the smooth transition to meticulous preparations.
He did mention one pleasant surprise, however: with its ten million people, Hungary always considered itself a small country. Now that it is inside the 25-nation EU, it realises that it is medium-sized at the very least.
In a joint interview with Helsingin Sanomat and Hufvudstadsbladet, Somogyi mentioned two other positive developments: Hungary is on the receiving end of EU financing, and the EU’s constitutional agreement includes items promoted by Hungary, such as protection of minorities.
On the other side - and Somogyi prefers to speak of challenges rather than problems - are EU demands on economic policy, such as maintaining balance in the budget.
Although Hungary has taken somewhat subdued role in the EU, it nevertheless does not hesitate to express its views. For instance, Somogyi disagreed with the EU’s recent decision to postpone negotiations with Croatia, which shares a border with Hungary. The reason for the decision was Croatia’s perceived lack of cooperation in apprehending suspected war criminals.
"We do not have irrefutable evidence that Croatia would have been uncooperative. On the other hand, we do feel that Croatia has made very serious efforts in recent months to show that it is cooperating", Somogyi said.
He also noted that Hungary’s own experience is that once the membership process begins, it can serve as a good incentive for change. It was during that time that Hungary improved its relations with its neighbours Romania and Slovakia, whose ethnic Hungarian minorities had been a cause of friction.
Hungary would also like the EU to go a bit further in its relations with Ukraine, which also shares a border with Hungary, and which also has an ethnic Hungarian minority numbering in the tens of thousands.
Helsingin Sanomat
|
| 22.3.2005 - TODAY |
 Hungarian Foreign Minister says his country's joining EU went smoothly
|
|
