US State Secretary Pompeo to visit Budapest on February 11 – UPDATE

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Hungary next week, National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Twitter.

I welcomed FM Szijjarto of Hungary to the White House today where we discussed defense cooperation, energy diversity, confronting Russian malign influence, & maintaining our ironclad commitment to NATO. A great preview of our 2019 goals & Secretary Pompeo’s trip next week ?? ??

— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) February 6, 2019

The visit is scheduled for Monday, and further details about the Feb. 11 visit will be provided later by the Hungarian foreign ministry.

Since the visit of Hillary Clinton in 2011, the head of the US foreign affairs has not been in Hungary.

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told MTI that Pompeo’s visit demonstrated that Hungary is a trusted NATO ally.

Hungary’s political relations with the US have been improving since a Republican administration entered office, Szijjártó said.

“One could say that our political relations are slowly reaching the level of [our] economic and defense cooperation,” he said, adding that this is clearly reflected by the fact that a US secretary of state is paying a visit to Hungary after eight years.

Hungary is committed to strengthening the North Atlantic alliance and to supporting the United States in its global efforts to fight terrorism and the Islamic State terrorist organisation as the leader of an international coalition, he said.

The Hungarian government’s foreign policy has been guided by the principle of mutual respect which has been reflected in bilateral political cooperation since Donald Trump was elected US president, Szijjártó said.

“Hungary has never joined the chorus of the European political mainstream that keeps criticising the Trump administration’s foreign and domestic affairs decisions,” he added

The foreign minister said he would hold a joint press conference with the US State Secretary on Monday. Pompeo will also meet Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the defense minister, he added.

As we wrote before, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó discussed the opportunity to diversify Hungary’s gas imports with United States Secretary of Energy Rick Perry in Washington yesterday, read more HERE.

Source: MTI