It is an unrealistic request from the United States of America for Hungary to release the data of 900,000 Hungarian citizens across the border, as this would endanger their security, said Bence Rétvári in a statement to Kossuth radio's Sunday Newspaper program.

The Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior said: for years, the two countries have been trying to find some kind of solution to the issues that arise, most recently on June 10, Hungary sent a list in which it made new proposals. Then came the decision that the United States would tighten the entry rules.

It is an "unprecedented (...) unrealistic" request for a country to release the data of hundreds of thousands of its citizens, because every country "protects and surrounds them with legal guarantees", Hungary does the same

the politician noted.

He added that, in addition, criminal cooperation has worked very well in recent years as well, and they are constantly discussing individual criminal and investigative inquiries. It is natural that they respond to the inquiries of the Americans in the shortest possible time.

When they had such objections regarding the acquisition of Hungarian citizenship that someone might not have obtained it properly, the procedure was started, and if a condemning decision was made, the person was stripped of his citizenship, the state secretary said.

Bence Rétvári indicated: Hungary will continue to maintain the dialogue, it will act in all cases, if a request is received, that is, it will cooperate with its American ally.

The governments of Hungary and the United States are currently of opposite political colors. In many cases, belonging to a different political camp and a different world view - from the gender issue to migration to wars - seems to override the fact that the two countries are close allies of each other, regardless of their governments - the politician opined.

According to the State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, the American decision is more of a symbolic step, a political message, than a practical legal problem, because now you have to digitally apply for facilitated entry to the United States per trip, and you cannot apply for an unlimited number of trips for two years in advance.

"This is an administrative surplus", but it is not a difficulty that would make it impossible for Hungarians to travel, because they can still travel to the United States in a simplified manner, they do not need a visa.

Bence Rétvári explained: it did not even occur to Hungary to release the data of its 900,000 citizens, because it would put the Hungarians across the border in a dangerous situation, it would pose a risk to them.

"For us, the interests of the Hungarians always come first", it doesn't matter which side of the border someone was born on, because those who don't stand up for the Hungarians across the border, after a while won't stand up for the Hungarians here at the border either - he believed.

The politician said: there are countries that do not allow dual citizenship, and there are political periods when some governments would specifically disadvantage such persons. So

if Hungary were to release their data and this list were to fall into the hands of that country, then "Hungarians would have to fear very serious reprisals", even in Transcarpathia.

This is why no Hungarian government, which is also responsible for Hungarians across the border, can do so by releasing their data. It cannot be assumed that a list of 900,000 people is needed because there may be one or two cases in which someone was illegally granted citizenship, in which case the illegal cases must be investigated, not 900,000 people potentially disadvantaged, said Bence Rétvári.

It is also important in the long term that the Hungarian state can always guarantee the security of its citizens' data. When you establish a cross-border Hungarian public law relationship with the mother country, you can be sure that you can count on the protection of not only the country in which you were born, but also the national community to which you belong. In this way, he can enjoy quasi-double protection in any country in the world, and it is not an additional danger that he, as a Hungarian citizen, may face any difficulties - stated the state secretary.

He also said: Hungary is still a partner country, and it also tries to act as quickly, comprehensively and correctly as possible in connection with the American inquiries.

Bence Rétvári believed that when liberals in America want to exert pressure or signal that they do not like the color of the government here, they do so, even with such steps. The strategic alliance of the two countries should be a priority, while

"at the level of the parties, we say what we disagree on", but international legal and public law relations should not suffer because of different political colors.

MTI