The microphones have played a trick on Olivér Várhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, who has been caught calling MEPs “idiots” during Tuesday’s plenary session in Strasbourg. This Wednesday morning, Várhelyi regretted what he described as a “misunderstanding” and added that his comments have been “taken out of context”.
The incident took place while the Hungarian commissioner was facing a question and answer session with the MEP focused on reinforcing the enlargement policy in the Western Balkans, where most of the countries are official candidates to join the bloc. The session, which lasted almost an hour and a half, included several direct questions from MEPs to Várhelyi on issues related to his portfolio.
Towards the end, the Croatian MEP Tomislav Sokol took the floor and accused Serbia of acting as if it will dominate the region and of “interfering” in the internal affairs of Montenegro. Várhelyi has said that Serbia is subject to the “same conditions” as any other EU candidate and that Montenegro’s “problems” had “deep roots”.
“It is up to the people of Montenegro to take the initiative and exercise their will for the future of the country,” said the commissioner.
Sokol has gone further and condemned Serbia for not following the EU sanctions against Russia in response to the war in Ukraine, an issue that has raised controversy in recent months and which has been reflected in a report by the European Commission published in October.
Source: Euronews Español
