Hungarian FM decorates former US State Department official Mitchell

The Hungarian foreign minister presented a high state award to Wess Mitchell, the US State Department’s former Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.

Mitchell received the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, Officer’s Cross, in recognition of his outstanding achievements in advancing Hungarian-US relations.

Presenting the award, Péter Szijjártó said that under Mitchell’s direction of his department “a new chapter had opened” in relations between the US and central Europe with Washington considering the region again an ally.

With Mitchell in office, US-Hungarian relations were guided by “two magic words: mutual respect”, Szijjártó said, noting his role in arranging a visit to Budapest by US State Secretary Mike Pompeo for the first time after seven and a half years.

The Hungarian foreign minister commended the former US diplomat for his role in developing bilateral political relations which Szijjártó said “had in effect been non-existent” before his term in office.