HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER URGES EU TO KEEP DOORS OPEN FOR WESTERN BALKANS NATIONS

BUDAPEST, Hungary (September 29,2007) - The European Union should continue to keep its doors open to applicants that meet all accession criteria, the Hungarian Speaker of Parliament Katalin Szili told a conference of house speakers from the West Balkan region in Budapest yesterday.

Szili said over the past few years, the EU member states seemed to be rather skeptical about further enlargement. She hoped that this enlargement fatigue would not influence the admission of West Balkan nations.

The house speaker confirmed Hungary's support for the EU and NATO accession of the countries concerned.

The settlement of Kosovo's future is the most complex challenge the European Union faces today, and the Western Balkans is the " birthplace and catalyst" of the EU common foreign and security policy, Szili said.

The conference focused on EU and NATO integration. The event was attended by the speakers of Albania,Bosnia, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Serbia as well as by the Ambassadors to Hungary of Austria, Croatia and Macedonia.