H.E. Bela Kolozsi: Hungary Back where It Belongs
Interview | May 1, 2004, Saturday
Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (novinite.com)
Dr Bela Kolozsi has been Ambassador of the Republic of Hungary to Bulgaria since 2000. He graduated in medicine and continued his education with sociology and philosophy. He started his diplomatic career in 1992 at the Foreign Ministry. Speaks French, English and German.
H.E. Bela Kolozsi was one of the ambassadors of the EU new member states, which Novinite.com Editor-in-Chief Milena Hristova approached with three questions.
Q: What advantages and risks do you expect after Hungary's accession to the EU?
The advantages that Hungary will gain as a member state of the European Union and upon its entry can be separated into two groups.
The first includes more general rewards. Hungary's EU entry means a return to a culture and continental cooperation, of which Hungary has always been a part, and to which, in terms of institutions, Hungary moved closer over the last one or two decades. This return would affect all aspects of life of the nation - culture, national identity, the identity of the individual. EU entry means to belong to a community, which guarantees the welfare of the society and the people in a more and more globalized world, which represents a wide spectrum of cultures that have found their place in our spiritual world, the single person, our expectations and responsibility to the world.
There are more concrete dimensions to the accession and they are obvious - democratizing the judicial system, joining the single European market and the European currency system in the long term, joining a world without borders, a world of equal rights for all nations and national minorities, which leaves behind minor differences.
We can further specify these advantages. Hungary gets financing for its accession from a number of European funds. It goes without saying that each of the countries must rely on its own resources. Still in terms of security policy and defence, the country is offered a more flexible frame for preserving the peace, as opposed to hanging weightless.
Q: What was the greatest obstacle that the country faced during its preaccession negotiations?
The experience of Hungary, as well as that of the other acceding countries and future member states, including Bulgaria, shows that the ease or difficulties in preaccession negotiations differ.
Hungary's negotiations of the first chapters of the acquis were comparatively trouble-free, the chapters that were more difficult to negotiate came towards the end of the process. It was difficult to battle with the requirement for shrinking agriculture subsidies in the first years, something that came out of the blue for Hungary. Following drawn-out negotiations we managed to reach a compromise for the transition period.
Building a long-term agriculture policy and the difficulties en route to EU entry are worth the attention. At the beginning and the middle of the negotiations Hungary was more optimistic about the labor market and the unlimited acceptance of Hungarian labour force by EU members. While the principle of the Free Movement of People was underlined at the start, later certain repeals moved to the foreground. Many countries will accept labour force only from certain professions and quotas, others promised a relieved regime for issuing work permits, while in yet another group of countries one will be free to look for a job. Still the limitations became bigger than Hungary expected. This is logical, as this is a chain reaction process.
As some countries introduce limitations with regard to labour force, the other countries, which do not plan such restrictions, may start to expect that the flow of jobseekers will come to them.
These restrictions, just like in a chain reaction, spread. At the same time neither the labor market in Hungary, nor the specifics of the Hungarian employers or the surveys show that the fears for a massive flow of labor force from Hungary are founded. The people, who are competitive labour force, and whose cultural perceptions allow them to be employed abroad, have already taken that step. In other words I do not expect major difficulties even if no restrictions are imposed.
We came upon a number of difficulties during our negotiations in other fields as well, including the issue of land ownership. We wanted it repealed and got it. The same applies to difficulties in the environment field. It is only thanks to our hard-line and consistent policy during the negotiations that we succeeded in protecting our interests.
Q: Which are the three most important things, which the Bulgarian government must do before 2007?
The Bulgarian government is likely to face similar problems right before the accession. Surely the national interests must be protected, but also the interests and visions of the member states and the values that move the European Union forward. It takes patience, but he Bulgarian government is also obliged to protect the national interests in the fields of agriculture, environment and economic development
H.E. Bela Kolozsi was one of the ambassadors of the EU new member states, which Novinite.com Editor-in-Chief Milena Hristova approached with three questions.
Q: What advantages and risks do you expect after Hungary's accession to the EU?
The advantages that Hungary will gain as a member state of the European Union and upon its entry can be separated into two groups.
The first includes more general rewards. Hungary's EU entry means a return to a culture and continental cooperation, of which Hungary has always been a part, and to which, in terms of institutions, Hungary moved closer over the last one or two decades. This return would affect all aspects of life of the nation - culture, national identity, the identity of the individual. EU entry means to belong to a community, which guarantees the welfare of the society and the people in a more and more globalized world, which represents a wide spectrum of cultures that have found their place in our spiritual world, the single person, our expectations and responsibility to the world.
There are more concrete dimensions to the accession and they are obvious - democratizing the judicial system, joining the single European market and the European currency system in the long term, joining a world without borders, a world of equal rights for all nations and national minorities, which leaves behind minor differences.
We can further specify these advantages. Hungary gets financing for its accession from a number of European funds. It goes without saying that each of the countries must rely on its own resources. Still in terms of security policy and defence, the country is offered a more flexible frame for preserving the peace, as opposed to hanging weightless.
Q: What was the greatest obstacle that the country faced during its preaccession negotiations?
The experience of Hungary, as well as that of the other acceding countries and future member states, including Bulgaria, shows that the ease or difficulties in preaccession negotiations differ.
Hungary's negotiations of the first chapters of the acquis were comparatively trouble-free, the chapters that were more difficult to negotiate came towards the end of the process. It was difficult to battle with the requirement for shrinking agriculture subsidies in the first years, something that came out of the blue for Hungary. Following drawn-out negotiations we managed to reach a compromise for the transition period.
Building a long-term agriculture policy and the difficulties en route to EU entry are worth the attention. At the beginning and the middle of the negotiations Hungary was more optimistic about the labor market and the unlimited acceptance of Hungarian labour force by EU members. While the principle of the Free Movement of People was underlined at the start, later certain repeals moved to the foreground. Many countries will accept labour force only from certain professions and quotas, others promised a relieved regime for issuing work permits, while in yet another group of countries one will be free to look for a job. Still the limitations became bigger than Hungary expected. This is logical, as this is a chain reaction process.
As some countries introduce limitations with regard to labour force, the other countries, which do not plan such restrictions, may start to expect that the flow of jobseekers will come to them.
These restrictions, just like in a chain reaction, spread. At the same time neither the labor market in Hungary, nor the specifics of the Hungarian employers or the surveys show that the fears for a massive flow of labor force from Hungary are founded. The people, who are competitive labour force, and whose cultural perceptions allow them to be employed abroad, have already taken that step. In other words I do not expect major difficulties even if no restrictions are imposed.
We came upon a number of difficulties during our negotiations in other fields as well, including the issue of land ownership. We wanted it repealed and got it. The same applies to difficulties in the environment field. It is only thanks to our hard-line and consistent policy during the negotiations that we succeeded in protecting our interests.
Q: Which are the three most important things, which the Bulgarian government must do before 2007?
The Bulgarian government is likely to face similar problems right before the accession. Surely the national interests must be protected, but also the interests and visions of the member states and the values that move the European Union forward. It takes patience, but he Bulgarian government is also obliged to protect the national interests in the fields of agriculture, environment and economic development
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