Hungary counts on Serbia’s support for the stabilisation of the entire Western Balkans region – Péter Balázs held talks with the Serbian Foreign Minister

Foreign Minister Péter Balázs held talks at a working breakfast on March 3 with Vuk Jeremic, the Serbian Foreign Minister. Serbia’s efforts towards European Union integration and related Hungarian assistance were the primary focus of their discussions.

In the past year, Serbia has made heightened efforts in advancing its EU integration and has achieved significant results in this process. With the continuous support of Hungary, on December 19, 2009 Serbia – together with Macedonia and Montenegro – won the right to visa-free travel to the Schengen zone and on February 1 this year the bilateral transitional agreement between the EU and Serbia on facilitating trade also came into force. EU Member States are to start deliberations in the first half of 2010 on Serbia's accession application submitted in December 2009 and enter into ratification process of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Serbia.

Mr Balázs spoke in recognition of the efforts that Serbia had made in its European integration process. The two ministers reviewed bilateral relations besides EU integration, which Mr Jeremic called “productive”. The ministers highlighted participation in joint projects such as the EU Danube Region Strategy, cooperation in energy and transport infrastructure. Mr Balázs underscored that Hungary counts on the support of Serbia in the stabilisation of the entire Western Balkans region, which is an important endeavour of Hungarian diplomacy.

(March 3, 2010)