Govt rejects McCain comments on Orban, Russia-Hungary ties

Budapest (MTI) – The Hungarian government considers US Senator John McCain’s remarks on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and relations between Hungary and Russia unacceptable and resolutely rejects them, the state secretary for economic diplomacy said on Wednesday at a meeting with US charge d’affaires Andre Goodfriend.

The ministry earlier said that Goodfriend had been summoned to Levente Magyar’s office in connection with Republican Senator McCain’s remarks made at a Senate vote on the appointment of new US Ambassador to Budapest Colleen Bell.

During the meeting, Magyar told Goodfriend that Hungary welcomed the fact that full US diplomatic representation in Hungary had been restored thanks to Bell’s appointment, the ministry said in a statement.

At the same time, the government is repeatedly asking senior US officials to check the facts before making remarks about Hungary, to ensure that their statements are based on truth, it added.

The Republican politician said on Tuesday that Hungary was “a very important country where bad things are going on” and while “a close ally in many respects … there’s no doubt that since taking office in 2010, the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has centralised power.” He also insisted that Hungary is “a nation that is on the verge of ceding its sovereignty to a neo-fascist dictator getting in bed with Vladimir Putin.”

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told MTI on Wednesday that Hungarians had voted support for the country’s ruling parties at three elections in 2014. “On all three occasions they clearly expressed their view, and everyone should respect that”, he said. If someone bases their opinion of Hungarian affairs exclusively on press reports then they can easily get into the situation that their comments are not rooted in facts, Szijjarto added.