Following talks with his Moldovan counterpart Nicu Popescu, Szijjártó highligthed the geopolitical appreciation of the Eastern Partnership programme, and urged the earliest enlargement of the EU as well as promoting closer ties with countries in the region. Szijjártó noted the “strong positions” of Hungarian retail bank OTP and pharma Richter in Moldova’s markets, adding that bilateral trade had posted a record 200 million euros last year.
Meanwhile, Szijjártó regretted that WizzAir had temporarily suspended its operations in Moldova, and said he hoped services would be resumed “once security quarantees are in place”.
On another subject, Szijjártó said NATO members would not be reimbursed for earlier contributions aimed to finance the Afghan military, and expressed the Hungarian government’s wish to use some of the funds, 120 million forints (EUR 322,000), to strengthen the security of Moldova. He said Moldova was situated “on the eastern border of the European Political Community, therefore we are mutually interested in each other’s security.”