Hungary's EU Presidency to be Pro-enlargement

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Hungary's European Union presidency will be unmatched in terms of its advocacy for enlargement, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said after a meeting of the EU-Georgia Association Council in Brussels yesterday, according to a post on his Facebook page.

Hungary wants to help Serbia open new accession chapters and Montenegro to close more, while it aims to see the start of "genuine" negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova when it takes the revolving presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of the year, Szijjártó said.

He added that Hungary wouldn't allow the accession process of some countries to be "artificially connected" to those of others and it wouldn't bend to "political pressure" but focus on "real results".

The EU needs new member states that can bring "new impetus" to the union, such as countries in the Western Balkans, Georgia or Moldova, he said.

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