The Western Balkan countries deserved to become EU members long ago. The EU made an enormous error with regard to Macedonia. I would characterize it as a historic error, said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is visiting Macedonia with a large government delegation.

We risk to enlarge this error. I see that the country will be placed behind Albania on the path toward the EU. I see no reason for that. This will be an enormous challenge for this Government, said Prime Minister Orban.

The Hungarian Prime Minister said that the stability of the Balkans and its integration into the European Union are exceptionally important. “We all saw the benefits of the enlargement, but the EU lost its dynamism. We must ensure further enlargement. I will not avoid the fact that Ukraine and Moldova were given extraordinary push on the road to the EU. We must respect the countries that have been working on this issue for a long time, and which are now placed in the background. That is not fair. We believe it is important to maintain the association of the Western Balkans toward the EU and in accordance with that we would want to speed up the accession process for Macedonia. We are prepared to hold the second inter-governmental conference, said Prime Minister Orban.