Hungarian foreign minister: US Ambassador Pressman is a left-wing political activist

Hungary is interested in the European Union and Moldova forging the closest possible cooperation, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after meeting his Moldovan counterpart in Budapest on Friday, pledging Hungary’s support for speeding up Moldova’s integration process during its EU presidency in the second half of the year.

At a joint press conference with Mihai Popsoi, Szijjártó said the EU was “ailing”, and “the most effective cure” was to build closer ties with partner countries outside the bloc, the ministry said in a statement.

The foreign minister recalled Hungary’s “difficulties” during its own accession process, and he pledged the government’s help to Molodva in “completing the task”.

Szijjártó noted an agreement signed at the meeting offering training at the Hungarian Academy of Diplomacy in legal harmonisation and the implementation of accession-related reforms to fifty Moldovan public officials.

Szijjártó said each candidate country should be evaluated on the basis of its performance. Hungary’s position is that it is unacceptable if certain countries “become hostage” to those with “a poorer performance” in the integration process, referring to Albania and North Macedonia.

“This is unacceptable for us, and we would like to indicate in advance that we will not support tying Moldova’s integration to that of any other country.”

Hungary supports expanding the EU-Moldova free trade agreement, the liberalisation of their freight transport pact and allocations to Moldova from the European Peace Framework for the development the country’s defence capabilities.

“In addition, if the first inter-governmental committee meeting on Moldova’s EU accession does not take place by June, we will hold it at the start of the Hungarian EU presidency to help speed up the process,” Szijjártó said.

Commenting on bilateral relations, he said trade increased 2.5-fold since 2010.

Hungarian exports were mainly supported by pharmaceuticals and the food industry, he said, adding that OTP had grown to become one of the largest players in the local banking sector, following investments worth several tens of millions of euros.

He welcomed WizzAir connecting Chisinau to several western European cities, and said it was “good news” that Budapest services were restarting from April 2.