Hungarian minister Bóka: Joining the EU was a decision with no alternative

Hungary’s joining the European Union in 2004 was “a decision with no alternative”, János Bóka, the minister of EU affairs, said on Tuesday, but added that “the EU is facing a series of challenges and crises and has given ill-advised responses in the past five-year cycle.”

Bóka: Being European integral part of national identity

“Being European has become an integral and inalienable part of our national identity: we can only be Europeans as Hungarians and as Hungarians, we cannot be at home but within the community of European nations,” he said on Facebook. Hungary’s European integration had been aimed to “build a Europe of strong and sovereign nation states”, he added.

Bóka said, however, that “we must take an honest account instead of celebrating the anniversary with empty phrases”. Similarly to the original aim of the community, the EU is expected to guarantee peace and security in Europe, the minister said. “We must reinforce Europe’s security and defence policies and prevent Europe, by all means, from getting involved in the war,” he added.

The EU keeps losing its economic competitiveness, Bóka added, and called for reversing that trend. The EU should conclude “a new competitiveness pact” with European citizens and economic players, he said.

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