| Our basic task in the European Union is the representation of our national interests – said Ferenc Somogyi at the annual meeting of heads of missions in 2005 in Budapest. It is the national interests of a Hungary which has momentum, which shall be represented in the EU, and this means that the themes, ambitions represented by us shall be very current – emphasised the foreign minister. Our expectation vis-à-vis ourselves is to lead an active, dynamic foreign policy – noted Ferenc Somogyi, and underlined that foreign policy is no longer limited to the previous, classical diplomacy. 
Ferenc Somogyi Foreign Minister
The minister also remarked that, from the point of view of the Union, Hungary has a possibility to make use, for the community, of the possibilities given by her traditional relations and her geographical position. Mentioning Kosovo, he said: we are close enough to the region to understand the ambitions, to see the picture clearly, but we are not too close so as to have personal considerations, which would unnecessarily complicate the tasks. Ferenc Somogyi said that the Ukrainian foreign minister was invited to the conference for heads of missions because of the importance of the Eastern and the South Eastern European region. “Hungary’s (European Union) membership in itself does not give us a bianco cheque to want anything as a European Union member, to think that all the world is ours, and that we shall always have the EU’s support behind us” – he said, adding: this support may be available, but only in the cases when our goals, ambitions are in accordance with the Union’s ambitions. In his opinion, Hungary’s integration into the European Union was smooth. However there is a stalemate in the Union concerning the ratification of the Constitutional Treaty, and the Financial Perspective for the Union for the next seven years, as disharmonising ideas arose among the political leaderships of the Member States. He also spoke about the Budapest formula (an eventual transitional, three-year budget), about which his opinion was: the formula at least helped to begin the common exchange of ideas about the Union’s budget. He underlined that Hungary supports the EU membership of both Croatia and Turkey. In his speech, Ferenc Somogyi also said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is past the first round of the talks on budget conciliation. 14 July 2005 Photos:    |