VIDEO // Expert of Moldova comments on results of elections in Hungary

The strategic interest of Moldova is for the issue of European Union enlargement to be kept constantly on the political and diplomatic agenda of the member states, integrating Moldova, Ukraine and the Western Balkans into a common accession process. An expert in foreign policy and strategic communication at the Institute for European Policies and Reforms, Daniel Voda, has made statements to this effect, in the context of the parliamentary elections in Hungary, after which the opposition party won a clear victory and the current prime minister, Viktor Orban, who has been in power for the last 16 years, acknowledged his defeat.

“The good news this week comes from the very essence of Europe: democracy is repeated, confirmed and corrected through voting. In Hungary, at a symbolic distance of 70 years from the 1956 Revolution against an authoritarian regime, Hungarians have once again shown that power is transferred through elections. This is the European DNA,” said Daniel Voda.

The expert emphasized that the European Union worked, above all, as a Union of values and democracies: institutions that work, rules that are applied, freedoms that are exercised daily. According to him, this framework provides stability and creates trust and every election, including the one in Hungary, reconfirms this democratic model.

“Our region works as an interconnected system. The strategic interest of our country is to keep the issue of enlargement as high as possible on the EU’s political and diplomatic agenda and the one of its member states,” Voda said.

In the context, Daniel Voda  noted that “it is in the interest of Moldova that all platforms discuss the enlargement of the European Union, which increasingly clearly links the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova into a single process.”

“The questions are becoming common: the timing of preparations, the conditions for accession, domestic reforms, the Union’s capacity to integrate new members. Here I want to say it clearly: the most prepared country for accession is Montenegro. Do you know why? It is implementing reforms, adopting European legislation and everyone is communicating about the EU: the government, the opposition, civil society, the press, local authorities,” Daniel Voda also said.

He added that Moldova must focus in the same direction: emphasis on functional institutions, consistently applied rules and an economy that provides people with prosperity.

“Calm in communication, predictability in decisions and a focus on our own path, aligned with the efforts of other candidate countries. These elements build credibility both in relation to member states and to European institutions,” the expert said.

Thus, according to Daniel Voda, “it is in the interest of Moldova to have the closest bilateral relationship with Ukraine in the country’s recent history.”

“The crucial elections in Hungary, an EU and NATO member state, were subjected to a large-scale cognitive war influenced from the outside. And they showed that Moldova’s security today depends on Kyiv. Ukraine keeps military pressure at a distance and creates space for our stability, reforms and the Transnistrian settlement. At the same time, the relations with Kyiv require balance, maturity and direct communication, including to resolve the common problems well known to both states,” Voda stressed.

Equally important is the relationship with Romania.

“Accession to the European Union is a process that will be completed with the unconditional support of Romania and other partner countries; regional security provides the necessary framework for its acceleration, and domestic preparedness will make the difference. When Moldova is well prepared in 2028, the political context will become favorable,” Voda said.

In his final message, Daniel Voda stressed that “it is in the interest of Moldova that the next enlargement be a broad one, common to all aspiring countries, based on shared European values.” “This is the most pragmatic solution for Moldova, Ukraine and the states of the Western Balkans,” Daniel Voda concluded.