The US Senate today voted 52-42 to confirm Colleen Bradley Bell to be U.S. ambassador to Hungary.
Senator John McCain is a very influential Republican. He was presidential nominee in 2008, he lost to President Obama, and now he is considered possible presidential candidate in 2016. When Senator McCain talks American politicians listen.
McCain spoke in the Senate about Ms. Bell’s nomination, he said he was used to presidents in both parties appointing wealthy donors to plush ambassadorships in the Caribbean, but President Obama is now sending an unqualified individual to Hungary that need a career ambassador. He claimed that Ms. Bell “is totally unqualified for this position.”
Senator McCain used his speech to launch an unprecedented barrage of attacks against the Orbán-regime. Here are some excerpts from the C-SPAN transcript:
“Hungary is a close ally in many respects, but there’s no doubt that since taking office in 2010, the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has centralized power, has reduced the independence of Hungary’s courts, pushed through controversial changes of the Constitution and placed acute restrictions on non-governmental organizations….. This is a very important country where bad things are going on and Ms. Bell’s experiences have been largely relegated to producing the television soap opera “The Bold and The Beautiful”.”…
“If it were some Caribbean country, some other, I would understand that. But here we are in a relationship with a country where, according to Bloomberg News, Orbán says he seeks to end liberal democracy in Hungary. The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán says he wants to favor an illiberal state citing Russia and Turkey as example.”
“The Hungarian Prime Minister is distancing himself from the values of most European nations. Mr. Orbán said that NGOs are receiving service from abroad, need to be “monitored” as he considered those to be foreign powers. We are talking about the National Democratic Institute, Freedom House and others. He calls them “We are not dealing with civil society members but paid political activists who are trying to help foreign interests here.” Amazing! Mr. Orbán, who has fueled public projects, says he wants to replace welfare societies with work fair state. Mr. Orbán is cozying up to Vladimir Putin. He now entered into a nuclear deal and is practicing the same kind of antidemocratic practices as his role model, Vladimir Putin.”
Mr. McCain and Mr. Orbán
In February of this year Senator McCain visited Budapest and already warned Orbán: “We understand the concerns about the state of democracy in Hungary that have been raised by people both inside and outside of this country. Some of these concerns are very serious. They need to be resolved democratically, by Hungarians, and this country’s democratic institutions, its checks and balances and rule of law, need to be strong enough to support that process.”
The pro-Orbán media poked fun of Senator McCain’s serious comments. Mr. Tamás Fricz wrote in the pro-Fidesz newspaper Magyar Nemzet that Senator John McCain came, He Saw, and He Talked Nonsense. He wrote, that Hungary would forget McCain’s lightning fast visit just as quickly as he made it.
It seems that Senator McCain did not take well the insults of Mr. Orbán & Co., and now made it clear in no uncertain terms that the conservative Republicans won’t tolerate Mr. Orbán’s illiberal policies.
Hungarian-American relations just hit a new low point.
György Lázár
It is interesting. The picture in this article was made weeks ago, when Mr. McCain wisited Budapest and negotiated with Mr. Orbán in a quite friendly way. Not without critical remarks, but in the quite friendly mood.
At this visit Mr. McCain did not declared anything like that.
I read yesterday another interview with him in the HVG and he did not say such a thing either.
Instead he described Hungary as a country living in a fear of Russia, and explained Mr. Orbán’s politics by this.
So what is the truth, Mr. Lázár?
Mr. Lázár is anything but an objective journalist, I am afraid. His negative emotions toward anything which is related Hungary make his journalists credibility a little bit questionable.
Hate is not a good adviser, Mr. Lázár. Especially if one works for the Free Press of Hungary.
http://www.c-span.org/video/?322978-1/us-senate-morning-business&live
from 25:00
“At this visit Mr. McCain did not declared anything like that.
I read yesterday another interview with him in the HVG and he did not say such a thing either. ”
—-
Yes he did.
http://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2014/1/remarks-by-senator-john-mccain-in-budapest-hungary
Jan 31 2014
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) today delivered the following remarks at a press conference in Budapest, Hungary:
“We understand the concerns about the state of democracy in Hungary that have been raised by people both inside and outside of this country. Some of these concerns are very serious. They need to be resolved democratically, by Hungarians, and this country’s democratic institutions, its checks and balances and rule of law, need to be strong enough to support that process.”
Let’s hope the highly competent and conscientious chargé d’affaires, André Goodfriend, will continue to exercise the substantive political activities of the Hungarian embassy, so the new ambassador need merely exercise the social ones.
Dr. Habil,
Maybe you should read Lazar’s article closely, McCain visited Hungary many months ago not “weeks ago”. Mr. Lazar writes the facts very well time and time again. Orban runs a mafia regime and he will be on the trash heap of history in the near future. Your comment is prejudiced and irrelevant as your title……
Habil, would a video convince you?
Dr Habil is once again talking through his hat – a habit he appears to particularly relish on these pages. His criticism of György Lázár for apparent lack of objectivity is astonishing, given Habil’s own one-sided trance about the wonders of Orbanistan. Has he heard of the saying – physician heal thyself….and look at McCain’s statement issued after the Senate hearing.
“The Hungarian Prime Minister is distancing himself from the values of most European nations.”
As I see things he made a terrible mistake. In his infinite wisdom he thought the west is dying and the east is the rising sun, and he has chosen side.
The point is, the west, the democracies are not dying, just going through critical and dangerous social, economic and financial changes where the old controlling system, the cabal, the petrodollar, the FED guided debt policy is falling apart and the BRICS is not only advancing quite well, but the BRICS countries have also created a new rating agency, the UCRG (Universal Credit Rating Group) that will compete with the cabal’s services (Fitch, Moody’s, the S & P).
His wrong choice and crippled capability of making sober judgment were fueled on the one hand by his hatred against the EU for his own failure taking Barroso’s chair (another sick schizophrenic dream of him) and on the other by his frustration and total inability to understand and to live up to the values of the modern world. Another miscalculation on his side was when he thought that the downing of the cabal and the demolition of the 300 year old Rothschild fiat currency regime will inevitably open the door for a Chinese or Russian post-regime where he wished to rush.
What he couldn’t imagine that neither the Chinese, nor the Russians need him or will just use and fail him more than the EU, and that there is a chance of the west and the east hammering out some solution and one day he will find himself being forced to dance with Merkel and collecting a real big slap in his face from Putin.
He spent his years creating enemies, losing and destroying allies and disgusting the whole world with his spineless traitor tactics and now remained without friends. Fighting enemies he looked for stooges to proudly go on with his muscle flexing and has eventually he has found real ones.
December 1, 2014 in the US Senate:
Minden eddiginél keményebb minősítést kapott az Egyesült Államokból a magyar kormány. Colleen Bell leendő magyarországi nagykövet szenátusi megszavazása előtt ugyanis John McCain republikánus szenátor, 2008-as elnökjelölt
neofasiszta diktátornak nevezte Orbán Viktort
The videos up there in the previous comments are a bit long. This is a short excerpt of McCain’s speech calling Orban a neo-fascist dictator getting in bed with (Russian President) Vladimir Putin.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30318898
Now Putin can make his choice. Can protest against McCain’s statement that he is allowing a neo-fascist dictator in his bed and can protect his overzealous pet Orban, or might as well deliver a big punch in Orban’s face and gets rid of him to avoid his discredited name be mentioned in context with his name in the future.
Now let’s go one more time.
STATEMENT BY SENATOR JOHN McCAIN EXPRESSING CONCERN ABOUT DEMOCRACY AND RULE OF LAW IN HUNGARY
Dec 03 2014
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) today released the following statement expressing concern about democracy and the rule of law in Hungary:
http://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=42884c56-068d-43e2-9dc9-cde1ac1f3c30
McCain got a bit hysterical – that’s what Putin does do to you.
And one more addition to Mr. McCain’s statement. Orban is not only a neo-fascist but also a psychopath. An insane neo-fascist.
Here he is walking with a sick and insane foolish grin on his face with his favorite book in his hand.
Dr. Robert D Hare : Kímélet nélkül. (Hunagarian title written on the cover of the book)
http://nol.hu/data/cikk/23/1/68/cikk_230168/46148.jpg
Dr. Hare is famous for his Psychopathy Checklist-Revised that is used to rate an individual’s psychopathic tendencies.
HUNGARY: GROWING SYMPTOMS OF COLLECTIVE DELUSION UNDER ORBAN
Orban:
“The independence of Hungary is under attack”
“We are not a colony”
“I talked to the chair of NAV [Vida, barred entry by US] yesterday.” …
“We should start an anti-defamation suit against [Mr Goodfriend, US attaché]”
“Brussels is attacking our utility rate cuts”
“I am not willing to become a viceroy in Hungary”
from 1:38, 180 perc, 5 dec 2014 http://www.mediaklikk.hu/kossuth/
[via tappanch on Hungarian Spectrum]