The US State Department took revenge for Hungary's refusal to provide them with the citizenship data of Hungarians across the border.
The United States on Tuesday sharply limited Hungary's participation in its visa waiver program due to security concerns related to new passports issued between 2011 and 2020, Politico reported .
According to our information, the USA wanted to obtain the data of all dual citizens, primarily the data of Transcarpathian and Vojvodina Hungarians, from Hungary. The Americans then said that if Hungary did not release these data, they would cancel the discounts. In comparison, instead of abolishing it, they have now only tightened it. Ministry of the Interior has already reacted to the American decision, calling the American measure revenge.
In the framework of the American visa waiver program, citizens of the participating countries can travel to the United States for up to 90 days without a visa for tourism or business purposes, they only need a so-called electronic system for travel authorization (ESTA, Electronic System for Travel Authorization).
However, as of Tuesday, the validity of the ESTA for Hungarian passport holders will be reduced from two years to one year, and the ESTA will only be valid for one use.
– reads Politicon.
The unprecedented step was made due to security concerns, which affects Hungary as the only one of the 40 countries participating in the American program, they write.
David Pressman, the US ambassador to Budapest, told POLITICO in an interview before the announcement: "There are hundreds of thousands of passports that the Hungarian government issued as part of the simplified naturalization program without strict identity verification mechanisms in place."
According to Pressman, the American government has been dealing with this "security part" with the Hungarian government for years and through several administrations.
In 2017, the United States made Hungary's status in the visa exemption program temporary, and security concerns were also behind a decision according to which Hungarians born abroad will not be eligible for visa exemption from 2020.
Now, however, all persons with Hungarian passports will be affected.
Featured image: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák
