On October 27th, 2020, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán presented the Hungarian Order of Merit, Middle Cross with the Star, to 82-year-old US Ambassador David Cornstein “for his role in strengthening Hungarian-U.S. diplomatic, economic and trade relations.” Ambassador Cornstein’s tenure has ended and currently there is no US Ambassador in Budapest. It is not clear when the new Ambassador will be named by the Biden Administration, the overly complex selection and approval process often takes several months.
The US Embassy is currently run by Chargé d’Affaires Marc Dillard. He is a 22+ year career State Department diplomat.
According to his bio, Dillard went to Duke University and received a bachelor’s degree in history. In 1998 he received a Ph.D. in Political Economy and Public Policy at the University of Southern California. He joined the State Department and served in Korea, Malawi, Japan, DR Congo, and Bulgaria. He also served at the State Department’s Operations Center. Dillard is married to another career diplomat, Julia Dillard. They have two children and have served together in the past at the US Mission in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Dillard wrote of his diplomatic career, that he had met “a president and an emperor, flown a 747-400 training simulator, eaten things he’d never imagined possible, assisted relief efforts after the Indian Ocean tsunami and Haiti earthquake, and broken down in a car with a politician, his hand-made ax, and a goat.” He also loves adventure and the absurd.
Speaking of absurd, it seems that Mr. Dillard found the right place. Viktor Orbán’s illiberal “Victatorship” is the closest you can get to Absurdistan today in the European Union.
György Lázár