Post Tagged with: "Foreign Policy"

Eniola Ajayi, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with Hungarian President, János Áder

Ambassador protests Hungarian claim of 100 million Nigerians with AIDS

The Hungarian election campaign has been centered on a level of fear never before seen in post-1989 Hungary, with the Orbán regime announcing that a win by the opposition would mean an end to the country as we know it. One of the regime’s outlandish claims, however, resulted in a letter of protest from an ambassador. We are sharing this […]

by · April 6, 2018 · Politics
Washington more concerned about Orbán’s pro-Russian politics than his authoritarianism

Washington more concerned about Orbán’s pro-Russian politics than his authoritarianism

István Dobozi, a foreign policy adviser and a former senior economist with the World Bank, wrote a piece for the conservative Magyar Nemzet daily, in which he argued that under President Donald Trump, bilateral relations between Hungary and the United States have only improved ever so slightly, compared to its low point under the Obama administration. However, he added that […]

by · November 29, 2017 · Politics
Foreign Minister Szijjártó insults US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch

Foreign Minister Szijjártó insults US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch

Relations between Hungary and the United States have been bad for a long time and don’t seem to be improving. In a recent interview Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s young and feisty foreign minister, has openly attacked the US Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, because of the US Embassy’s response to a new educational law in Ukraine. (Read here in Hungarian.) Péter […]

by · October 19, 2017 · East
President Trump and Ambassador Szabó (right) in the Oval Office.

Orbán is desperately trying to secure a White House invitation

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has told his US-based diplomats that he wants an invitation to the White House. Let’s face it, the Hungarian strongman is a bit insecure. Orbán has ruled Hungary with an iron fist since 2010 yet he couldn’t secure a photo op with a sitting US president in the Oval Office. The Hungarian Prime Minister thinks that […]

by · October 14, 2017 · Politics
Mr. Bálint Magyar gave a presentation at the University of California at Berkeley

Hungarian diplomat attempts to discredit Bálint Magyar at UC Berkeley

Bálint Magyar gave a presentation at the University of California at Berkeley entitled: Parallel System Narratives: Polish and Hungarian Regime Formations Compared. The event took place in one of the older buildings at the Wildavsky Conference Room; the place was packed, standing room only. Mr. Magyar is a sociologist and a former Hungarian Minister of Education. (See invitation here.) In […]

by · September 29, 2017 · Politics
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Vietnam Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Photo: MTI.

Orbán is praising and condemning Vietnam’s Communists – at the same time

Viktor Orbán is in Communist Vietnam on an official visit. He warmly greeted the country’s leaders and laid a wreath at the Hanoi War Memorial commemorating the Communist victory over the Americans and their South-Vietnamese allies. Orbán met with Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and signed “a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the two ruling parties and expressed […]

by · September 27, 2017 · East
Prime Minister Orbán with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Hungary and Russia cooperate with Iran on nuclear projects

Just five months ago Iran and Hungary signed an agreement to expand nuclear cooperation between the two countries. The deal was inked by Ali Akbar Salehi, the chief of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and Zsolt Semjén, the Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister. Mr. Semjén, a former Catholic theologian, was very excited about the nuclear deal with the Islamic state […]

by · September 21, 2017 · East
Mr. Orbán and President Aliyev sign a strategic partnership in Budapest in 2014. Photo: MTI.

Hungary appears to have sold Azeri axe murderer for $7 million

Documents uncovered this week suggest that the Orbán government’s motivation for handing back to Azerbaijan Ramil Safarov, the Azeri axe murder convicted of killing an Armenian army lieutenant in Hungary, may have been financial gain. In 2012, Hungary earned global scorn for transferring the murderer to a country where he was welcomed as a hero. Here in Ottawa, Canada, the […]

by · September 6, 2017 · Focus
Hungary’s Deputy Prime Miniszter Mr. Zsolt Semjén (left), Mr. Dzsingisz Gabor wearing the Commander’s Cross (right).

D. J. Gabor – Dutch politician is proud to be honored by the Orbán government

The Hungarian government recently recalled its ambassador to the Netherlands after the Dutch Ambassador to Hungary, Gajus Scheltema, drew parallels between the government’s efforts to “create enemies” and those of the Islamic State group.  In an interview Scheltema also criticized Hungary’s treatment of asylum-seekers and the government’s campaign against philanthropist George Soros. Dutch foreign minister Bert Koenders distanced himself from his […]

by · September 5, 2017 · Politics
Gajus Scheltema. Photo: MTI.

Did the Dutch ambassador go too far in his criticism of the Orbán regime?

Outgoing Dutch ambassador Gajus Scheltema’s suggestion that the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán creates enemies along the same lines as Islamic terrorists sparked a political firestorm in Hungary. Mr. Scheltema said, as part of a response to journalists from the 168 Óra weekly on the risk of terrorist attacks, particularly after Barcelona: “A car attack can occur anywhere in […]

by · August 29, 2017 · Politics