Hungary committed to EU integration: FM

BUDAPEST, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi said on Monday that his country was committed to European Union (EU) integration and "a more united, more integrated, stronger, deeper Europe."

Martonyi, speaking at a lecture in Budapest's Central European University, said that Hungary's "fundamental interest lay in keeping the EU together," and not in a "fragmented" union which could harm smaller countries.

The minister's comments came a few days after a controversial speech by the central European country's Prime Minister Viktor Orban who said on Thursday, a national day which commemorates its 1848-49 revolt against the Habsburg empire, that "Hungary would not be a colony", or "live according to the commands of foreign powers."

On Wednesday, due to its high budget deficit, the EU suspended some 665 millon U.S. dollars of catch-up funding scheduled for Hungary unless it makes deep cuts by June.

Martonyi insisted the prime minister was talking about national independence and not about EU integration. "It's likely that Hungary will not lose a single euro due to this suspension," he said.