Hungary supports Albania’s NATO accession

BUDAPEST, Dec. 15 – Hungary said last week that NATO should invite Albania to become a member at its next summit meeting in Romania.
Hungarian Defense Minister Imre Szekeres met with his Albanian counterpart, Fatmir Mediu, in Budapest saying it was important that the Adriatic countries fulfilling the membership criteria should be admitted to the North Atlantic alliance. Albania’s accession to NATO would greatly enhance stability in the Balkans and Europe as a whole, he said.
To promote Albania’s NATO membership, Hungary is prepared to open a military attach顯ffice in Tirana, and transfer its experience in the accession process. Hungary highly praised Albania’s constructive contribution to resolving the Kosovo issue, and regrets the failure of negotiations between Pristina and Belgrade, Szekeres said.
The Hungarian minister said the massive emigration of Serbs from Kosovo would be an unfavorable and unacceptable phenomenon for Hungary, especially if they head toward Vojvodina, a North Serbian province with an ethnic Hungarian minority.
Hungary intends to take part in military missions in the Balkans, he said. For the time being, 471 Hungarian soldiers are deployed in Kosovo, whom the minister will visit this weekend.
The Albanian minister thanked Hungary for supporting the region, and emphasized that the presence of Hungarian troops had greatly contributed to stability in the Balkans.