Hungarian diplomats curtail free speech in North America

Hungarian diplomats in both Canada and the United States have engaged in a concerted effort to silence Hungarian Canadians and Hungarian Americans critical of the Orbán government and to have them removed from local Hungarian communities or ensure that they are otherwise isolated. The most recent incident comes from Los Angeles, where Hungary’s Consul General, Tamás Széles, demanded that the vice president of the United Magyar House, a community centre, be removed from his position. Vice President Álmos Sárvári published a critical comment about the Hungarian government on his personal Facebook page. He spoke not as a the vice president of the community centre, but expressed an opinion as a private citizen, in response to a friend’s comment on the social media site.

Consul General Széles immediately phoned the president of the community centre, Miklós Pereházy, and reportedly said the following: “You saw what Álmos posted again, didn’t you?” This was not the first time that the consul general expressed concern about the fact that the community centre’s vice president is critical of the Orbán regime. Mr. Pereházy pushed back on the suggestion that the vice president must be removed from his position due to his personal opposition to the Hungarian government, but he understood that the consul general was demanding nothing less from him.

Hungary’s Consul General in Los Angeles, Mr. Tamás Széles.

Speaking to the Index news site, Mr. Pereházy noted: “Everyone has the right of freedom of opinion. In America, we take this inalienable right very seriously. In 1956, people did not flee Hungary so that they would be silenced.”

When Mr. Széles realized that the vice president of the United Magyar House would not be removed, he threatened to no longer hold Hungarian national celebrations in the centre. Traditionally, Hungarian national commemorations are jointly organized in the centre by both local Hungarians and the consul general. Mr. Széles stayed true to his word and decided to organize the August 20th St. Stephen’s Day celebration at a local Catholic church instead. Mr. Pereházy submitted a written complaint and accused Hungary’s Foreign Ministry of conspiratorial behaviour.

In Canada, prior ambassador László Pordány, former First Secretary Lajos Oláh as well as outgoing ambassador Bálint Ódor engaged in the same type of conspiratorial activities within the Hungarian community and worked to politically influence community organizations, interfering in the life of Canadian non-profit associations in a manner that is unacceptable for the diplomat of any foreign country. In every case, including the one with Consul General Széles, we encourage all affected parties to file a report with the relevant agency in both Canada and the United States.

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