Szijjarto: V4 expects new EC to speed up EU enlargement

The Visegrad Group (V4) expects the new European Commission to speed up European Union enlargement, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday. After meeting his V4 counterparts in Prague, he said: "One of the greatest failures of the previous European Commission headed by Jean-Claude Juncker was bringing the enlargement process to an almost complete standstill." "This is why we expect the new European Commission to open a new era in EU enlargement with special regard to integrating the Western Balkans," he said. Szijjarto said enlargement policy, headed by Hungarian commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, would be in good hands. "The V4 has agreed to support the Hungarian enlargement commissioner's efforts to speed up integration," he said, adding that the EU's policy "of blocking enlargement" over the past years "goes entirely against the bloc's interests".