Hungary was continuing to awaiting the arrival of United States Ambassador Colleen Bradley Bell this week to replace Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis, who departed 16 months ago in July 2013, as tensions continued to simmer between the two countries.
After Republican Senator John McCain launched a broadside against political appointee Bell and her ability to cope with “neo-fascist dictator” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and other matters, the Hungarian government “resolutely” rejected the attack and summoned US Chargé d’affaires André Goodfriend to explain.
State secretary for economic diplomacy Levente Magyar told Goodfriend during their meeting that Hungary welcomed that full US diplomatic representation in Hungary is now being restored, but would ask senior US officials to refrain from disregarding the facts when making comments about Hungary.
McCain said Hungary was “a very important country where bad things are going on” and while “a close ally in many respects… there’s no doubt that since taking office in 2010… Orbán has centralised power”. Hungary was “a nation that is on the verge of ceding its sovereignty to a neo-fascist dictator getting in bed with [Russian President] Vladimir Putin”.
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó gave warning that opinions about Hungary should not be based exclusively on press reports because this could lead to a situation when “comments are not rooted in facts”. He said the Hungarian Embassy in Washington had contacted McCain’s staff about the matter.
A day later McCain repeated his concerns over democracy and the rule of law in Hungary. The former presidential candidate said “democracy without respect for rule of law, separation of powers and the protection of economic, civil and religious liberties is not only inadequate, it is dangerous. It brings with it the erosion of liberty, the abuse of power, ethnic divisions and economic restrictions – all of which we have witnessed in Hungary since Prime Minister Orbán took power”.
McCain said Orbán had justified his actions by declaring that Hungary was moving towards an “illiberal democracy”, which was against EU and NATO principles that all members should observe. “Since… Orbán came to power in 2010, anti-democratic constitutional changes have been enacted, the independence of Hungary’s courts has been restricted, non-governmental organisations raided and civil society prosecuted, the freedom of the press curtailed and much more”.
Concerns about democracy in Hungary had been expressed by the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Committee to Protect Journalists and the European Central Bank. Recently six Hungarians had been banned from entry to the US “over alleged corruption” and Goodfriend had called the ban “a warning to reverse policies that threaten democratic values”.
Marie Harf, spokeswoman for the US State Department, said the Administration did not share “a number of views” expressed by Senator McCain, including his remarks calling Orbán a “neo-fascist dictator”.
Orbán said on public Kossuth Rádió that Hungary’s national independence had come under attack from McCain, whose claims were “extremist” and “reflect on the person who said them”.
The prime minister said the country’s independence in terms of energy, finance and trade was “not attractive for the beneficiaries of pre-2010 times when Hungary was not independent and when they could profiteer on Hungarians”. On the subject of the US entry ban, Orbán said tax head Ildikó Vida, who is one of six nationals affected, was free to file a lawsuit for slander. He added that if corruption charges against any official are proven, however, they would “go behind bars”.
Later he used a much harsher tone regarding Vida. Orbán told Parliament he would sack her unless she files a defamation lawsuit against Goodfriend. In reply to a question by a Socialist MP, Orbán insisted the issue could be clearly settled in the law courts “without all the nonsense lacking evidence… Unless she initiates a lawsuit immediately I will withdraw her”.
He called on the US diplomat “not to hide behind his diplomatic immunity” but to “stand up, be a man and take responsibility for what he has claimed”.
Opposition gets stuck in too
The radical nationalist Jobbik party “firmly rejects” remarks by US Senator John McCain, interpreted as “attempted pressure”, and calls on the United States not to interfere with Hungary’s domestic affairs, Jobbik’s deputy group leader said. Márton Gyöngyösi insisted that McCain’s criticism had been motivated by US national security interests rather than by his concerns over democracy in Hungary. In the eyes of the US Hungary is part of the American sphere of interests rather than a sovereign country, which needs to be kept dependent, Gyöngyösi argued.
Socialist leader József Tóbiás said the comments, made by a conservative US politician, not a left-wing one, demonstrated that the prime minister’s foreign policy had failed.
The opposition Together party said Orbán had “missed the path and is driving Hungary in the wrong direction”. The party called on the government to start rebuilding international confidence in the country.
According to the Liberal Party, the prime minister’s “pro-Putin, autarchic and nationalist policies undermine Hungary’s reputation”.
