Hungarian FM says EU should be “absolutely happy” about Georgia desire to join bloc

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Friday said the European Union should be “absolutely happy” that Georgia wished  to join the bloc, adding that Brussels should do “everything in its power” to ensure that “Georgia becomes a member of the European family as soon as possible”. 

In his remarks at a press conference with the visiting Georgian counterpart Ilia Darchiashvili, Szijjártó highlighted Georgia’s “patriotic” Government. 

“What we see happening is that the liberal mainstream in Europe, the politicians in favour of war and the Brussels bureaucrats wish to make it impossible for Georgia to be successfully integrated into Europe. And in such times, we have to ask the question, why is that so? And the answer is that Georgia has a patriotic Government”, the top Hungarian diplomat said. 

The Hungarian FM further noted Georgia had a Government, which “stands up for its own national interests and resists foreign influence”.

“[T]hey have also adopted a law [the controversial law on transparency of foreign influence] protecting that. And they have a Government that protects families, protects the traditional family model, and they also adopted a law concerning that [the law on family values and  protection of minors]. Therefore, Brussels has placed political and financial punishments as well, because they froze the money transfers [the freezing of €30 million in support for the country from the European Peace Facility in response to the adoption of the law on transparency of foreign influence] and they do their best to place obstacles before the negotiations of accession”, the Hungarian official continued. 

He further alleged that “they cannot stand within the EU if someone does not dance the way they sing, and they cannot stand in Brussels if someone resists pro-war and gender propaganda”. 

“I would actually like to share with you the example of Hungary […] and to tell you that despite all this pressure, we stood up for ourselves. We stood up for our national interests. We stand up in favour of peace and favour of our families. And this works. This works because if we were to give up all that, then we would lose our sovereignty. And sovereignty is what we must stand up for. So you are on the right track. And in the future, the Hungarian Presidency, Hungary and the Hungarian Government will provide you with all the support in order to maintain your sovereignty despite foreign pressure, and so that you can speed up the European accession and integration process”, he noted.
Szijjártó also noted Georgia’s “great” economic performance by saying that the country had performed a “great economic growth and it can have a possible positive impact on the European Union's economy”. 

The official also focused on the Georgian Government’s efforts to enhance the diversification and the safety of the energy supply of Europe, as well as the increase of green energy.

“We [Hungary] are taking huge steps ahead jointly with Georgia, Azerbaijan and Romania. Within the framework of a huge energy cooperation from Azerbaijan and Georgia, we import green energy to Europe, for which we shall construct the longest underwater electricity line in the world, at the length of 1200 km [in the Black Sea] . The feasibility study is currently being prepared and the joint venture of the four countries will be established and everything is provided for a Greater Caucasus-Central European energy success story” he concluded.