Ambassador Réka Szemerkényi calls China a dictatorship

PBS NewsHour is one of the most widely watched news program in the US.  In the July 8 program the host, Nick Schifrin asked – among others – Hungary’s ex-Ambassador to the US, Réka Szemerkényi about foreign perception of the US during the coronavirus pandemic.

Here are Szemerkényi’s responses from the edited transcript.  We publish them without any further comment.

Nick Schifrin:

So, how is the U.S. viewed around the world during the pandemic?

For that, we get three views from three different regions.

Jorge Castaneda was Mexico’s foreign minister from 2000 to 2003. He’s the author of several books, including, most recently “America Through Foreign Eyes.” Reka Szemerkenyi was Hungary’s ambassador to the U.S. from 2015 to 2017. She’s now a non-resident senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, a think tank in Washington, D.C. And Maina Kiai was U.N. special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association from 2011 to 2017. He’s a human rights and anti-corruption lawyer from Kenya.

Welcome, all, to the NewsHour.

Nick Schifrin:

Reka Szemerkenyi, let me come to you.

We heard two arguments about how this is the end of American exceptionalism, but there are Europeans who still believe the U.S. is indispensable and who support the Trump administration’s policies, even if perhaps not the rhetoric.

Réka Szemerkényi:

Yes, absolutely.

For a long time, you know, the questions that raised concern on the side of the Europeans were more the rhetoric more the tweets that were coming out of the blue and that were not helpful to strengthening the transatlantic relationship.

But the policies absolutely outweighed these messages. And the policies that were implemented so far have been very positive and strengthening this cohesion. Support for Ukraine, the support for stronger cooperation inside NATO, the emphasis on the 2 percent as a fair and equitable contribution to the common defense were all seen as strengthening the alliance.

Nick Schifrin:

Reka Szemerkenyi, the Trump administration points out this isn’t about only how it has responded internally in the United States, but what happened at the beginning in this pandemic and the fact that China silenced some doctors, as well as scientists in the early days.

Réka Szemerkényi:

Definitely.

I think the actions of China have revealed the real nature of their regime to the generation that has never seen authoritarianism or dictatorship.

There is a very strong need of leadership and cooperation on the two sides of the Atlantic. We actually have to see through the current immediate reactions and have to see that, strategically, it is far more important now than ever to think of the transatlantic relationship as a real priority for both sides of the Atlantic.

Nick Schifrin:

Reka Szemerkenyi, last word to you.

Do you believe that these challenges that the U.S. face, they can — the U.S. can overcome them, and continue to play the role that you believe the U.S. should play in the world?

Réka Szemerkényi:

If the United States is to be the leader of the free world, it has to be a completely new type of leadership that it has to exercise.

It’s a leadership that has to be based on cooperation. It’s a leadership that has to be based on engaging partners and having delicate messages about the — kind of positive messaging about the cooperation, the values of international cooperation

It can be a leader, but it has to be a new type of global leader, a new type that is based on respect and cooperation and engagement along common values in the long term.

You may watch the entire program here:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/what-the-u-s-coronavirus-response-says-about-american-exceptionalism

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