While David Pressman, the US ambassador, complained to Blinken about our country's "uniquely anti-American" rhetoric, these accusations are commonplace in the American liberal press: "whoever criticizes the Democrats is attacking America." How does someone who listens first and only judges afterwards see us? Balázs Náray asked Shea Bradley-Farrell, director of the Counterpoint Institute in Washington, D.C., guest researcher at the Center for Fundamental Rights, in Kossuth Rádió's Vasárnapi Újság program.

– You have your own impressions of Hungary through your own experience and your most recent visit. Moreover, he now has a permanent and official connection here, as he is a researcher at the Center for Fundamental Rights. What is your main idea and insight about Hungary, and as a researcher at an analytical institute, what do you focus on and how do you contribute to the work of the institution?

– I can summarize my feelings about Hungary by saying that I really love this country. This was my third recent trip and I had a great time here. The country reminds me of the America I grew up in, and which was my country in the 1980s, when more attention was paid to families, freedom of speech was a given, and there was no government suppression of it yet. The book I am preparing to write for the Center for Fundamental Rights will be about Hungary's national sovereignty, national identity and culture. I believe that these are very important questions, because in my opinion, Hungary today is an example for Europe in terms of freedom.

It is important that in the situation between Russia and Ukraine, Hungary said: it cannot support all European Union sanctions, simply because they would crush the country's economy. This angered our government, the American one, and the European Union. Thus, they receive a lot of insults, and we can also talk about the fact that they are withholding money from the country.

Another reason the United States and the European Union are angry is keeping LGBTQ content out of schools. But here again, it's about the question of national sovereignty, about the decision of the majority of citizens. And this is the key question.

When I was there, I saw the posters saying that 97 percent of people were against the sanctions, and I also know that people had a referendum saying no to LGBTQ content in schools. And this is exactly - the word of the people - the basis of national sovereignty, the will of the Hungarian people. This is what my book will be about. And there is one more important thing that I try to tell Americans and Europeans in my book: I want to make them understand that Hungary actually knows what it means to lose freedom, since it was under the occupation of the Soviet Union until 1991, for roughly 45 years. I try to tell this to the people who call Viktor Orbán a Putin fan. I've been to the House of Terror, and nothing is further from that than Putin fandom. I think it's simply a question of how to preserve their own freedom. I think that they see this very strongly, since it has been barely 30 years since they got their freedom back.

– As far as sanctions are concerned, a question always arises here, a really important matter, namely to whom an elected political leader is primarily responsible. Towards its own citizens, or in general, globally?

"This is a very important point." Viktor Orbán also said recently that "Hungary is the first." Joe Biden should also relate to America in the same way that "America comes first." It's not about isolating yourself or not caring about other countries. The United States distributes the most humanitarian aid in the world, but I also saw what you Hungarians did for the refugees in Ukraine. Last year, I visited the refugee centers, where serious financial support went. Children and adults, as well as dogs and cats arriving with people, were received with great care and concern. So: I saw care. There is a big difference between cutting oneself off from the world and saying as a sovereign nation: we say no to certain things.

And this is precisely the problem with the current Biden administration in the United States, that for some reason Ukraine is first for the government.

The full article from Hirado.hu can be read here

Image: Szilárd Koszticsák