European integration and Hungary's participation in it are beneficial to the country in every way, Foreign Minister János Martonyi said at a public event on Monday.

Hungarians do not harbour negative opinions of the European Union any more than the EU average, but their interest in integration trends and knowledge about them are below that level, János Martonyi said at an EU promotional event at Szeged University in southern Hungary. The ongoing series of events to promote the EU is aimed at changing this attitude and encouraging Hungarians to get more involved in European issues, he added.

Foreign Minister János Martonyi said the campaign entitled "My Europe" was important and would involve public dialogue on the advantages of the EU. Events are planned to be held at secondary schools and universities in Budapest, Győr, Szombathely, Szeged, Miskolc, Eger, Kecskemét and Székesfehérvár.

In response to a question on the fourth amendment of Hungary's constitution, Martonyi welcomed the Venice Commission's intention to assess the amendment. Instead of political accusations and generalisations, the question of whether the amendments indeed raised any difficulties from the point of principles or its legal aspects should be examined, he said.

"It is in our interest that such an objective assessment should be carried out instead of all sorts of political accusations. The same applies to the European Commission, where the compatibility of the constitutional amendment with EU laws will be examined," János Martonyi said.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister pointed out that the package of the fourth amendment would not bring about any fundamental changes since most of the provisions had already been passed earlier, but had to be re-submitted because the Constitutional Court rejected them because of formal legal reasons.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)