An unusual war broke out among the Orbán-government supporters in Washington DC.
Frank Koszorus, President of the American Hungarian Federation told Heti Válasz, a Hungarian weekly, that the upcoming congressional hearing about Hungary is a terrible idea. Whoever organized it does not understand the real issues and called for postponement. He himself is on the witness list, but he’ll boycott the hearing, he won’t testify in person, he will submit his material in writing. (Heti Válasz interview in Hungarian.)
In October 2014 Mr. Koszorus received the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit from Hungarian official Mr. Zsolt Németh in recognition for his outstanding achievements in promoting Hungarian-American relations.
The Congressional hearing was orchestrated by Connie Mack IV, a former Republican congressman from Florida, the new top lobbyist for the Orbán government. Mr. Mack was hired by Századvég, the pro-Fidesz Budapest based think tank, and according to registration documents Mr. Mack receives about $100,000 a month(!) for his help with “networking strategy” development and other services. His contract ends on April 30, 2017. (Details of Mr. Mack’s contract in English.)
Mr. Koszorus doesn’t like Mr. Mack’s hearing idea.
The hearing is scheduled on May 19, 2015 at 2:00pm to 5:00pm at 2200 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC. It was initiated by Mack’s Republican pal, Congressman Dana Rohrabacher who is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats. (Official announcement of the hearing.)
The witnesses are:
· Mr. Andras Simonyi, Ph.D., Managing Director of the Center for Transatlantic Relations School of Advanced International Studies Johns Hopkins University (Former Hungarian Ambassador to the United States)
· Mr. Frank Koszorus, Jr. National President American Hungarian Federation
· Mr. Tad Stahnke Vice President, Research & Analysis Human Rights First
· Mr. Maximilian Teleki President Hungarian American Coalition
Mr. Koszorus and Mr. Teleki are friends of the Orbán government, Mr. Simonyi and Mr. Stahnke are expected to represent a more critical tone. Mr. Koszorus’s organization is a non-partisan “charitable and educational 501(C)(3) organization representing the interests of its members and the Hungarian-American community.” Incidentally, Mr. Teleki’s Hungarian American Coalition is also a 501(c)(3) outfit “to identify and promote the aspirations, concerns, and interests of the Hungarian-American community.” Mr. Koszorus and Mr. Teleki don’t see eye-to-eye either.
It is worth mentioning, that there are dozens of 501(c)(3) organizations in the US claiming to represent the “interests of the Hungarian-American community.” They are jockeying for pole position to lobby on behalf of the Orbán government; hoping for power and money.
Colleen Bell, US Ambassador to Hungary and Mr. Koszorus.
Mr. Koszorus’s outburst is highly unusual, he is attacking his own camp before the congressional hearing. In January he met with Ambassador Colleen Bell and Hungarian Desk Officer Ivan Weinstein at the State Department to review “American/Hungarian bilateral relations” before Ms. Bell took up her post in Budapest. I suspect that he expected to have more say about Hungary’s lobbying strategy in Washington; he demanded more power and influence.
Now, with Mr. Mack in the driving seat, his wings are seriously clipped, and the feisty Mr. Koszorus is not willing to go down without a good fight. He is openly attacking Mr. Orbán’s high paid American lobbyist.
The vicious infighting behind the scenes indicates that Hungary’s Washington diplomacy is in chaos, we are in for more fireworks, Mr. Orbán’s US lobbyists are in an all-out war against each other.
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Update on the Congressional hearing
As the result of the infighting among Orbán government’s lobbyists in Washington DC, several last minute changes were published on the US Congress website.
The hearing now has two panels with partially new witnesses:
Panel I
Mr. Hoyt Brian Yee, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. Department of State
Panel II
Mr. András Simonyi, Ph.D. Managing Director of the Center for Transatlantic Relations, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, (Former Hungarian Ambassador to the United States)
Mr. Kurt Volker, Executive Director, McCain Institute for International Leadership
Mr. Tad Stahnke, Vice President, Research & Analysis, Human Rights First
Mr. Koszorus and Mr. Teleki were removed from the list and Mr. Kurt Volker was added. On a separate panel Mr. Hoyt Brian Yee Deputy Assistant Secretary will voice the Obama administration’s concerns.
Mr. Volker’s addition is very interesting. He knows Hungary, he speaks Hungarian and his boss Republican Senator McCain called Mr. Orbán a “neo-Fascist dictator.” (Read here about Senator McCain’s statement)
To make things more interesting, in 2014 the Hungarian Initiatives Foundation which was set up with generous contributions from the Hungarian government and run by Mr. Tamás Fellegi, a confidant of Mr. Orbán, gave a whopping $125,000 to the McCain Institute. Mr. Volker is running the Institute and he is also a board member of Mr. Fellegi’s foundation. Atlatszo.hu a Hungarian anti-corruption fighting group is investigating Mr. Fellegi’s activities and has raised concerns about his foundation’s finances and donation policies. (Read here atlatszo.hu article in Hungarian)
In 2011 Mr. Volker has received the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit from Hungarian President Pál Schmitt and according to the laudation “Hungarian leaders could always count on his help and his benevolent advice.”
Needless to say, this will be a very interesting congressional hearing.
György Lázár
