Octavian Țîcu, who was fielded for the office of President by the Bloc “Together”, demands that Mihai Popșoi should step down as Minister of Foreign Affairs and condemns Popșoi’s lack of reaction to the statements made by his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto in a joint press conference held in Chisinau. Szijjarto sad that Ukraine oppresses national minorities and is not worthy of being a member of the EU, IPN reports.
Octavian Țîcu told a press conference that the Hungarian foreign minister’s assertion is hostile, excludes Ukraine and antagonizes Moldova’s relations with Ukraine. “We condemn the lack of reaction of Foreign Minister Mihail Popșoi and call on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova to avoid the rostrum for such statements in the future. It is known that the independence and integrity of the Republic of Moldova actually lies in the resistance of Ukraine and the Ukrainian army in the eastern territories. We seek the resignation of Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihail Popșoi or his dismissal if he does not have the courage to do it on his own,” said Octavian Țîcu.
According to him, the Republic of Moldova obtained the EU candidate status together with Ukraine and opened the accession negotiations with the EU together with Ukraine. This means that both the EU and the EU institutions treat the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine as being bundled together in the accession process. Therefore, the Hungarian foreign minister’s statement, as well as Hungary’s position regarding Russia and the war in Ukraine, make us condemn this decision in Chisinau, said Octavian Țîcu.
In the same connection, Moldova’s former ambassador to Romania Iurie Reniță in the same press conference reiterated the need for Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi to resign or be dismissed by the Prime Minister or President Maia Sandu.
“It is natural and normal to have good relations with all the countries of the world, but the excess of zeal shown by Hungary in the Republic of Moldova, diplomacy and classical and contemporary diplomatic practice teach us particular things that I consider current Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihai Popșoi should know: any visit by a head of state, a foreign minister is carefully considered beforehand and I wonder who invited the Hungarian foreign minister to Chisinau, knowing very well the pro-Putin policy pursued by Hungary. However, our ambassador in Budapest did not warn the administration in Chisinau about the weaknesses of such a visit, even though Hungary holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union. We are interested in having good relations with Hungary, but not to the detriment of our national interests,” stated Iurie Reniță.
At the end of last week, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto paid an official visit to Chisinau. The official reiterated his country’s opposition to Ukraine’s entry into the European Union, accusing it of “brutally” repressing the rights of Hungarians on its territory. The statement was made at a press conference held together with Mihail Popșoi, who did not comment in any way on the statements made by his Hungarian counterpart.
The MFA has not yet commented on the demand made by the representatives of “Together” Bloc.
