Dacic: We want to join EU, but love must be mutual

BUDAPEST - No other region in Europe wants to join the EU more than the Western Balkans does, but it also expects "requited love" from the EU, Serbian FM Ivica Dacic said on Thursday after attending the Budapest Balkans Forum.

Speaking to reporters, Dacic thanked Hungary for supporting EU enlargement as well as Serbia's accession to the bloc.

He said the support to Serbia was due to the relationship between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Hungarian PM Viktor Orban and a great personal contribution by Hungarian FM Peter Szijjarto.

Dacic said the Western Balkans expected the EU to "love us as much as we love it" and that no other region on the continent had a greater desire to join the EU.

"Unfortunately, we have faced various kinds of moving targets and new requirements that have come up. I signed the Brussels Agreement and it has remained unimplemented for ten years. North Macedonia changed its name and, still, nothing happened," Dacic said.

The EU is experiencing certain enlargement fatigue, he said, noting that there was an opinion within the bloc that there should be no further enlargement until internal problems were resolved.

"We remain interested in EU membership," Dacic said.

He said the Budapest summit had also addressed the migration issue, and noted that a lack of a unified EU approach to the issue resulted in poor defending of borders.

Noting that the Ukraine war was the number one topic globally, Dacic drew a comparison with the issue of Serbia's sovereignty.

The international order is in a crisis in the sense that, once principles are breached, every big power can interpret those principles in its own way, rendering institutions pointless, he explained.