Mayor Breed, please don’t invite diplomats of the Orbán Government

I was shocked to learn that Consul András Doncsev of the far-right Hungarian Government was present at San Francisco City Hall’s August 20th event.  The photo of the one-time speech-writer of authoritarian PM Viktor Orbán was taken at City Hall and triumphantly distributed at the San Francisco Honorary Consulate’s Facebook site.

Mr. Doncsev represents a government which promotes racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic ideas and his presence is an insult to Hungarian Americans.  Please join me in protesting his presence.

Email your protest to MayorLondonBreed@sfgov.org  and to mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org

You may also telephone: (415) 554-6141 or fax: (415) 554-6160

If you are a San Francisco resident, please also contact your Supervisor.

Here is my letter to Mayor Breed.

Mayor Breed with Kamala Harris

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Dear Mayor London Breed,

It was a nice gesture that you invited Americans of Hungarian origin on August 20 to celebrate Hungary’s National Day.  In your Proclamation you acknowledged Americans with Hungarian roots who contributed to the development of the great city of San Francisco.

But at the same time, it was disturbing to see that Mr. András Doncsev, a diplomat of the far-right, racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic Hungarian Government was also present. Mr. Doncsev, as an official representative of the Orbán Government used your event for a photo op, posing with Ms. Eva Voisin Honorary Consul and your Proclamation.

Mr. Doncsev represents a government which recently enacted the most homophobic law on the European continent.  Homosexuality in Hungary now is connected to pedophilia.  Eleni Kounalakis, California’s Lieutenant Governor wrote. “My time as US Ambassador to Hungary was a four-year window into some of the darkest corners of anti-Semitism.”

Rep Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) issued a statement: “Prime Minister Orbán represents so many things that are antithetical to core American values. He has overseen a rollback of democracy in his country, used anti-Semitic and xenophobic tropes in his political messaging, and cozied up to Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. He has also suppressed independent media and academic freedom in an effort to consolidate his increasingly autocratic rule. It troubles us to see the President of our country, which has historically supported the protection and promotion of democracy and human rights worldwide, meeting with a man who so regularly disregards these values.”

The list is long.

Dear Mayor, Mr. Doncsev’s presence was a disgrace. It was an insult not just to Americans of Hungarian origin in the Bay Area, but to every American.

György Lázár

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