Brussels, 27/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council underlined on Monday 27 June strong progress made in membership talks with candidate countries, as it summed up its six months at Europe's helm. Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi said good results had come despite the financial and sovereign debt crises and the Arab uprising. He said Hungary, whose presidency ends on 30 June, was on the verge of supervising the conclusion of accession talks with Croatia, had opened them with Iceland, and made solid progress on Serbia's EU aspirations. “It is perhaps a bit of symbolic value that we started the first substantial accession negotiations with Iceland. We trust and we hope that this negotiating process will go on smoothly”, he said. “At the same time, we now have every good hope that we will conclude them with Croatia. The success of Croatia sends a very good signal to the region”, he said, adding that “there are now good signs that things in Serbia are heading in the right direction”.
Martonyi said that, given the changes in the Lisbon Treaty, Budapest had wanted to play a more behind-the-scenes role, working more closely with the European Parliament, and canvassing all parties in an effort to resolve any disputes. “We were not looking for headlines, we were not fishing for trophies”, he said. He also expressed satisfaction with his country's handling of the migration and energy dossiers. (LoC)