“An agreement has been concluded on the fact that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be delegating two diplomats to Chisinau to assist the work of the Moldovan government with relation to European integration processes”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced in the Moldovan capital following talks with Moldovan Minister for Foreign Affairs and EU Integration Aureliu Ciocoi.

At his press conference, Hungary’s chief diplomat underlined the fact that as a member of the European Union, Hungary regards enlargement and the Eastern Partnership as two of the EU’s most important policies, and would not only like to further develop bilateral relations, but would like cooperation between the EU and Moldova to be as tight as possible. “The EU needs successes and succeed stories, and the Eastern partnership, in which the Republic of Moldova is playing a very important role, could be such a success story”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

The Minister highlighted the fact that Moldova has a free trade agreement with the EU, and is also has observer status in the Eurasian Economic Union. “When we talk about the Eastern Partnership, then we mean the word partnership literally, and accordingly countries will never experience lecturing or interference in their internal affairs from us. We will never voice our opinions on domestic policy issues, because it is simply none of our business”, Mr. Szijjártó stated.

“Eximbank is facilitating the financing of Hungarian-Moldovan business relations with a 100 million dollar credit line, and via acquisitions OTP has become the largest bank on the Moldovan market, which is also a source of encouragement for Hungarian enterprises to appear in the country”, he told the press. “Richter now also has a 10 percent share of the Moldovan pharmaceuticals market”, the Minister highlighted. “An agreement has been concluded on the fact that 40 Moldovan students can begin their studies at Hungarian universities beginning in September within the framework of Hungary’s state scholarship programme”, he announced.

During his visit to Chisinau, Mr. Szijjártó will be meeting with President of the Republic Igor Dodon and Prime Minister Ion Chicu, will be received by Speaker of Parliament Zinaida Greceanii, and will be holding talks with Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Anatol Usatii. In the afternoon, he will also be meeting with Chisinau’s Roman Catholic Bishop Antal Kósa, who is from Bacău County and is of Hungarian origin.

Six former Soviet states are taking part in the EU’s Eastern Partnership program: Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

(MTI)