Colleen Bell cited Obama and sent a message to the Hungarian government
24.hu writes that the American Ambassador to Hungary diplomatically reflected on the Hungarian government’s anti-refugee campaign.
The USA’s Ambassador to Budapest doesn’t want to comment the former expulsion scandal, but she says that corruption is a national defence risk which affects economic prosperity and undermines the bases of a stable society.
“I hear about everything, information gets to me” said Colleen Bell diplomatically commenting on how her talks with many American businessmen and investors.
The ambassador has a great personal relationship with Péter Szijjártó, who she calls very straightforward. She frequently meets with the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs. “We don’t always agree in everything, but we agree in the fact that we don’t always agree.”
Since defence politics is an important pillar of Hungarian-American relations, Colleen Bell has met with Minister of Defence István Simicskó and Minister of Interior Sándor Pintér several times. She also keeps in touch with the prime minister’s advisor responsible for American affairs, Jenő Megyesy, and she even met with Viktor Orbán a few times.
Regarding the refugee crisis, the ambassador admits that Europe is facing the biggest migrational wave since WWII, but she also formulates soft criticism. “Anti-immigration rhetoric recently strengthened in Hungary and many people try to equalise refugees with terrorists. However it’s important to keep in mind that refugees are actually escaping from aggression and extreme politics.”
She believes that the immigration crisis should be solved by the affected countries together. The ambassador cites President Obama who once said: “A nation that surrounds itself with walls only defeats itself…”
She denies the news about her leaving and says that she has no idea where these news came from.
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She’s never said that she was tired, on the contrary, she would like to stay as long as she can. ‘Naturally, I serve the president, I’ll file my resignation on the 20th of January along with the other ambassadors. The president will decide if he/she accepts it or keeps me in my position for a while, until the new ambassador arrives. I very much enjoy my job and I still have a lot to do.”
Photo: MTI
Copy editor: bm
Source: http://24.hu/