Hungarian FM calls for next UN Secretary General to be from Western Balkans

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto called for the next United Nations Secretary-General to come from Central and Eastern Europe, preferably from the Western Balkans, while addressing a news conference after meeting with his Montenegrin counterpart Igor Luksic on Thursday.

Montenegro put forward Luksic's name for the post of the new UN secretary general.

Szijjarto said that while he thought Luksic was a good candidate, the Hungarian government had not yet picked the person it planned to support, albeit, it plans to choose someone from the region.

The term of current UN Secretary General Bank Ki-moon ends on Dec. 31, 2016.

The secretary general is appointed by the UN General Assembly on recommendation of the Security Council. A regional rotation is a precedent, but not a hard-and-fast rule.

Szijjarto said that Hungary was doing everything in its power to help Montenegro join NATO in May and is calling on the Hungarian parliament to be the first country to ratify the accession agreement after it is signed.

The Hungarian government firmly supports NATO enlargement, Szijjarto said, and would like to see Macedonia and Georgia join the military alliance, too.

Regarding bilateral relations between Hungary and Montenegro, Szijjarto said that Hungary has opened a 61.5 million euro (69.9 million dollars) line of credit for Montenegrin imports from Hungary. He added that he expected much of it to be used for quality food products.

On his part, Luksic agreed that the time was ripe for a Western Balkan UN secretary general, and said he was pleased that Hungary supported this view.

Luksic said he hoped to see direct flights between Budapest and Podgorica. Endit