The US ambassador in Budapest has said Hungary’s democracy problems and foreign policy divergence from the west can no longer be dismissed as rhetoric and that the time has come for “a reckoning”.
Since coming to power more than 14 years ago, the Hungarian prime minister, [Viktor Orbán](https://www.theguardian.com/world/viktor-orban), has concentrated political and economic power in the hands of his ruling party and a handful of businesspeople close to the government, while also nurturing relationships with Moscow and Beijing.
In a speech on Wednesday, David Pressman, who has served as the American ambassador to Hungary since 2022, said “one needn’t look further than the past six months to recognise that the alibi of ‘just words’ is no longer adequate in the face of the apparent divergences in Hungary’s relationship with the rest of [Europe](https://www.theguardian.com/world/europe-news) and the transatlantic alliance”.
Meanwhile, a Hungarian decision to ease visa restrictions for Russian and Belarusian citizens has raised security concerns in Europe.
Pressman took aim at what he described as Hungary’s “doublespeak”.
“How can the country of 1956 also be so cosy with Putin’s Russia? How can a country be both a member of the [European Union](https://www.theguardian.com/world/eu) and also at war with ‘Brussels’? How can an ally of the United States also, in the prime minister’s words, be its ‘adversary’? How can a repeated victim of Russian aggression also obstruct efforts to respond to it?” he said.
The ambassador, who became a household name in Hungary – and the target of attacks in pro-government media – for his vocal critique of the government’s foreign policy choices and democratic backsliding, also cautioned about the impact on the state of Hungarian democracy.
“The governing party’s control of the media and its attacks on civil society have created an atmosphere of fear,” Pressman said. “The atmosphere of fear allows corruption to flourish, and influences the government’s choices of its partners, not only at home, but also abroad.”
He argued that Hungary’s allies must face the reality of what is transpiring in the country.
Bring Orban down…
Agreed.
Orban’s not making decisions that lead me to believe he truly wants to stay in power.
How an Earth can an ambassador openly undermine the country where he serves?
Or maybe give us one election cycle where Orbán is not funded by EU money?
Seriously those who have been fighting for a pro EU hungary has done it so far with EU money being transferred to Orbán’s propaganda empire.
And the US doesn’t seem to complain when this propaganda is financing Meta and other US based platforms.
So maybe if we all want a different direction for Hungary, stop flooding this maffia state with money without any checks on how its spent, and stop letting these cronies dominate all adds on google, youtube, facebook etc.
An old-school coup organized by the CIA would be welcome here.
It Trump wins, Orban wins, Putin wins. If Harris wins, Orban and Putin get reckt.
Misspelled Turkey
Hungary is under a fascist ruler who is building an FSB like arm of the government. Orban is a clear and present danger to yhe people, the EU and NATO. The new fascist police organisation under construction will bring the first political show trials soon. A dictatorship is brewing in Europe and noone takes it seriously. Noone can imagine this now, and that disbelief is what let him continue. This is completely insane. The elections are just russian style shows and it is now impossible to rid Hungary of jis regime. Broken arrow. A Europen nation is in mortal danger with Russia and China helping its corrupt rulers to drift away from Europe, democracy and its own history.
10 comments
The US ambassador in Budapest has said Hungary’s democracy problems and foreign policy divergence from the west can no longer be dismissed as rhetoric and that the time has come for “a reckoning”.
Since coming to power more than 14 years ago, the Hungarian prime minister, [Viktor Orbán](https://www.theguardian.com/world/viktor-orban), has concentrated political and economic power in the hands of his ruling party and a handful of businesspeople close to the government, while also nurturing relationships with Moscow and Beijing.
In recent months, civil society groups and foreign governments have raised [concerns](https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/06/somewhere-between-orwell-and-kafka-hungary-closes-in-on-its-media?CMP=share_btn_url) that the Hungarian government is taking steps to put more pressure on independent voices. Hungary’s trajectory has posed a dilemma for its allies, as the country remains a member of both the EU and Nato.
In a speech on Wednesday, David Pressman, who has served as the American ambassador to Hungary since 2022, said “one needn’t look further than the past six months to recognise that the alibi of ‘just words’ is no longer adequate in the face of the apparent divergences in Hungary’s relationship with the rest of [Europe](https://www.theguardian.com/world/europe-news) and the transatlantic alliance”.
Orbán shocked allies this summer when he embarked on what he has termed a “peace mission” while his country holds the Council of the EU’s rotating presidency, [visiting Russia’s Vladimir Putin](https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/05/viktor-orban-visits-vladimir-putin-to-condemnation-from-fellow-eu-leaders), China’s Xi Jinping and the US presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, a Hungarian decision to ease visa restrictions for Russian and Belarusian citizens has raised security concerns in Europe.
Pressman took aim at what he described as Hungary’s “doublespeak”.
“How can the country of 1956 also be so cosy with Putin’s Russia? How can a country be both a member of the [European Union](https://www.theguardian.com/world/eu) and also at war with ‘Brussels’? How can an ally of the United States also, in the prime minister’s words, be its ‘adversary’? How can a repeated victim of Russian aggression also obstruct efforts to respond to it?” he said.
The ambassador, who became a household name in Hungary – and the target of attacks in pro-government media – for his vocal critique of the government’s foreign policy choices and democratic backsliding, also cautioned about the impact on the state of Hungarian democracy.
“The governing party’s control of the media and its attacks on civil society have created an atmosphere of fear,” Pressman said. “The atmosphere of fear allows corruption to flourish, and influences the government’s choices of its partners, not only at home, but also abroad.”
He argued that Hungary’s allies must face the reality of what is transpiring in the country.
Bring Orban down…
Agreed.
Orban’s not making decisions that lead me to believe he truly wants to stay in power.
How an Earth can an ambassador openly undermine the country where he serves?
Or maybe give us one election cycle where Orbán is not funded by EU money?
Seriously those who have been fighting for a pro EU hungary has done it so far with EU money being transferred to Orbán’s propaganda empire.
And the US doesn’t seem to complain when this propaganda is financing Meta and other US based platforms.
So maybe if we all want a different direction for Hungary, stop flooding this maffia state with money without any checks on how its spent, and stop letting these cronies dominate all adds on google, youtube, facebook etc.
An old-school coup organized by the CIA would be welcome here.
It Trump wins, Orban wins, Putin wins. If Harris wins, Orban and Putin get reckt.
Misspelled Turkey
Hungary is under a fascist ruler who is building an FSB like arm of the government. Orban is a clear and present danger to yhe people, the EU and NATO. The new fascist police organisation under construction will bring the first political show trials soon. A dictatorship is brewing in Europe and noone takes it seriously. Noone can imagine this now, and that disbelief is what let him continue. This is completely insane. The elections are just russian style shows and it is now impossible to rid Hungary of jis regime. Broken arrow. A Europen nation is in mortal danger with Russia and China helping its corrupt rulers to drift away from Europe, democracy and its own history.