Boka: EU needs Serbia more than Serbia needs EU

BUDAPEST - Hungarian Minister for EU Affairs Janos Boka told Tanjug on Friday Serbia's future lay in the EU and announced that, during its upcoming EU presidency in the second half of 2024, Hungary would do everything for Serbia to achieve progress in its EU integration process.

Boka also said it was his expectation that the first advance payment of funds from the EU's Western Balkans Growth Plan "could reach the candidate countries already during our presidency."

"I believe that, as (Hungarian) PM (Viktor) Orban has often said, the EU needs Serbia more than Serbia needs the EU.

If I look at the math, if I look at connectivity challenges, energy security, migration, but also if I look at the economic growth potential of Serbia, the raw materials and resources that it has, I think the EU really needs Serbia, and I believe that Serbia's future lies with the EU," he said.

"I think that the EU should engage with Serbia actively, in a constructive way, and I think that we should use this momentum that we now have in the enlargement process to make progress with Serbia as well.

As the Presidency, we will do whatever we can in this regard," noted Boka, whose country will take over the rotating EU presidency on July 1.