US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has delivered a serious warning to Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó in Washington D.C.
In Budapest the government-controlled media claimed that the meeting was a “significant success” and the parties had discussed the situation in neighboring Ukraine. Szijjártó assured the American politician that Hungary would “defend the Hungarian community in Ukraine,” and informed the public that the US administration is a close friend and ally of Orban’s Hungary.
It seems that Pompeo remembers the meeting differently. “The secretary underscored the importance of maintaining a vibrant civil society. The Secretary also emphasized the urgent need to help Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, including the importance of facilitating and supporting Ukraine’s engagement with NATO, and the need to counter Russian malign influence in Central Europe,” State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said Wednesday following Pompeo’s meeting with Szijjártó.
Pompeo referred to Hungary’s proposed legislation that would make it illegal for private organizations to help migrants and would require organizations that accept foreign donations to register with the government. The Orban government calls this the “Stop Soros” law, referring to Hungarian-born American billionaire George Soros, a Jewish Holocaust survivor whose image is used to whip up nationalist and anti-Jewish sentiments.
Hungarian media omits Pompeo’s comments about the importance of “a vibrant civil society.” In fact, pro-Orbán circles are hinting that an Orbán-Trump summit is “imminent.” In reality, Pompeo also warned Szijjártó that the US won’t tolerate a pro-Putin, pro-Iranian Orbán regime in NATO.
Foreign Minister Szijjarto and Secretary of State Pompeo (from left) at the State Department, in Washington, D.C., on May 30.
On May 29 Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warmly greeted Orbán on the occasion of his election victory. Rouhani voiced hope that the two countries will deepen bilateral relations “cementing the ties in various areas and implementing previous agreements” between the two regimes.
Orbán has not yet received a congratulatory note on his re-election from the White House. Also the new ambassador who President Trump is sending to Budapest, Mr. Cornstein has already voiced that one of his priorities will be confronting Hungary’s rampant anti-Semitism.
György Lázár
