European parliamentarians supported the further expansion of the European Union to the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe as part of the discussion on the future of Europe and the countries that want to join the Union. The members of the European Parliament present also gave their support.
The debate was organised during the Inter-Parliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Union, held on 9-10 September in the Parliament of Hungary, which currently presides over the European Union. The keynote speakers were Oliver Varhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Policy, and Janos Boka, Hungarian Minister for EU Affairs.
The National Assembly delegation attending the Conference comprised MPs Darko Jovanovic, Deputy Chairman of the Defence and Internal Affairs Committee, Dunja Simonovic Bratic, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Dragan M. Markovic, member of the Defence and Internal Affairs Committee.
The participants discussed the protection of external borders and illegal migration, geopolitical and strategic changes in the world, as well as priorities and challenges of joint policies in the field of foreign affairs, security and defence. The topic of the urgent debate was the latest indiscriminate Russian attacks on the Ukrainian economy and infrastructure.
Speaking in the debate on illegal migration, MP Darko Jovanovic pointed to the good results in the fight against illegal migration and other forms of related crime, saying that there has been a significant reduction in illegal border crossings, which makes Serbia a reliable partner to the European Union. He reminded the attending that the international community controls the southern Serbian borders on the territory of Kosovo-Metohija, in accordance with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, and called that the internationally recognised borders and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Serbia be respected, in order to prevent illegal migration directed towards the Union.
In the discussion on geopolitical changes in the world, Dunja Simonovic Bratic thanked Hungary for its support to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia in international parliamentary forums in the past period and praised Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's peace initiative, highlighting its importance.
