Hungarian FM: Speeding up this country’s accession a key goal of Hungarian EU presidency

Hungary’s government will do everything possible during the Hungarian European Union presidency to get accession talks with Georgia up and running so that the country can join the bloc as soon as possible, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Friday.

Georgia is an important partner when it comes to overcoming the challenges faced by Europe, Szijjártó told a joint press conference with Georgian counterpart Ilia Darchiashvili in Budapest, according to a ministry statement.

Szijjártó said Georgia understood and supported neighbourhood policy based on peace and stability and could also be a key player in ensuring the success of Europe’s future energy diversification. He also highlighted the country’s commitment to European integration.

One of the reasons for Darchiashvili’s visit, he noted, was for Hungary and Georgia to look ahead to Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of the year, “which comes at a time when the bloc is in particularly poor shape”.

“Our goal is to strengthen the European Union and break the spiral that is leaving the EU in worse and worse shape,” he said.

Szijjártó said the best way to do this was to enlarge the bloc, arguing that the EU needed new momentum, freshness and dynamism, which could be provided by countries still fighting for membership.

“Georgia is one such country,” he said, noting that the economic growth seen in the country recently would be certain to contribute to improving the EU’s competitiveness.

Szijjártó said Hungary had firmly backed the EU’s decision to grant Georgia candidate country status last December. “This was the right decision, and it partly made up for the earlier unfair decision to deny Georgia candidate country status when it was granted to Ukraine,” he said.