Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the European parliamentary and municipal elections on June 9 “will be exceptionally important” both in Hungary and Romania.
Speaking at a press conference in Târgu Mureș (Marosvásáhely) on Monday, with Hunor Kelemen, RMDSZ’s leader, the foreign minister said the more MEPs Fidesz and the Hungarian Democratic Alliance of Romania (RMDSZ) have, “the stronger the voice of peace in Brussels will be”. “Romania and Hungary have lived in the neighbourhood of war for two and a half years… It will not come as a surprise that we Hungarians want the swiftest possible peace.” “We Hungarians don’t want to get involved in the war in the neighbourhood … we do not want a nuclear war,” he said. Minister Szijjártó noted that Hungary and Romania are scheduled to hold their European parliamentary and municipal elections on the same day. “On June 9 we will decide whether we want peace or war, and we will elect the officials to lead local communities,” he said. Both Fidesz and RMDSZ supported peace and trusted that there would be as many pro-peace deputies in the EP as possible, Szijjártó said. The two parties have an interest in good Hungary-Romania cooperation, he said, adding that “the stronger RMDSZ is in Romania, the easier it is to build good ties.” “The stronger representation RMDSZ has in municipalities, the stronger the Hungarian communities will be, and the stronger they are, the stronger and more stable support they can provide for good cooperation between Hungary and Romania,” Szijjártó said, calling on ethnic Hungarian voters in Romania to support RMDSZ. Szijjártó said he had pledged continued, close cooperation between the Hungarian government and RMDSZ, “in order to build further success stories in bilateral cooperation, especially in the economy. The government will work together with RMDSZ to promote Romania’s long-deserved Schengen entry,” he added.