Bosnian officials and religious leaders have condemned assumptions made by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his spokesman that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s integration into the European Union will be a challenge due to its large Muslim population. Orban spokesman Zoltan Kovac wrote on Twitter that “the challenge with Bosnia is how to integrate a country with 2 million Muslims.” Macedonian Foreign Minister Complains Bulgaria Changes Positions Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said the Bulgarian side is constantly changing its positions during talks … Read more During his long speech in Budapest, Orban said Hungary supports Bosnia and Herzegovina’s bid for EU membership, adding that as an EU member, Hungary needs to mobilize a lot of energy to overcome “the fatigue of enlargement that has gripped the European Union”.
“I am doing my best to convince leading European leaders that the Balkans may be further away from them than Hungary, but the way we manage the security of a country of 2 million Muslims is a key issue for their security.” , he said. Reactions in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been sharp, with some Bosnian parties calling for a ban on Orban’s planned official visit to Sarajevo, and the Muslim community’s spiritual leader, Hussein Kavazovic, calling Orban’s statement “xenophobic and racist”.
