Hungarian FM: Hungary committed supporter of Eastern Partnership

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó expressed Hungary’s firm support for the EU’s Eastern Partnership programme, including Moldova, in talks with senior Moldovan officials in Chișinău on Wednesday.

Szijjártó met Moldova’s Foreign and EU Affairs Minister Tudor Ulianovschi, President Igor Dodon and Deputy Prime Minister Iurie Leancă.

“We consider Britain’s exit [from the EU] … a sad development,” Szijjártó told MTI over the phone. He added that the EU could only get stronger if it “literally looks beyond its borders” and establishes strategic and effective political and economic cooperation with countries aspiring to join the EU.

Strengthening the Eastern Partnership programme is in Hungary’s interest and Moldova being in the forefront of the programme, it is also in Hungary’s interest that Moldova should get as tangible European integration perspectives as possible, he said.

“This is also a security interest because the more allies the EU has in the east, the stronger it becomes. All of which is also in our economic interest”,

Szijjártó added. Hungary increased exports to Moldova by 8 percent to over 100 million euros last year, he said.

Richter holds a 10 percent share in Moldova’s pharma industry and during Szijjártó’s visit, an agreement was signed on the use of Hungarian solutions in Moldova’s agriculture and water management. He also said that students from Moldova have been granted thirty scholarships in Hungarian universities.

As Moldova has fulfilled all requirements, the EU should transfer the next tranche of its macro-financial assistance to enable it to continue its economic reforms, Szijjártó said.

Source: MTI