According to the former foreign minister, America is ready to open a new page at any time, it only depends on the Hungarian government.

David Pressman, the American ambassador in Budapest, gave a speech at the CEU a few days ago on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Hungary's accession to NATO, but the speech was mainly about how the American foreign affairs, which is managed by the progressive trend, is dissatisfied with Hungary, writes the Mandiner.

In the speech, the diplomat emphasized that Hungary is becoming more and more isolated in NATO, and also said that Washington is ready to normalize the soured Hungarian-American relationship, but "we don't see such a willingness from the Hungarian government." According to the reaction of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Pressman was not the ambassador, but a left-wing political activist.

Géza Jeszenszky responded to all of this in the ATV Voks 2024 program. The former foreign minister and American ambassador was first about Viktor Orbán's celebratory speech , in which, according to the reporter, there were many foreign policy elements, for example, that "Brussels must be occupied, we know which gate to march through and how to reorganize the EU. Let the Governor's Council tremble even in Brussels".

Jeszenszky replied that "Brussels is a city. I don't know if we are training the Hungarian army to occupy it. And marching is a very militaristic text, I would expect something else from a politician. Everyone can have objections to the EU and its measures, but we are part of it and we get a lot of good from it. Even the measures that some people think they want to impose on us, such as those related to environmental protection or the load on roads and bridges, are all useful.”

Then the issue of the rule of law, Hungary's sovereignty and its protection was discussed. The former ambassador believed that

"Brussels is not a dictatorship. Moscow is the dictatorship.  

When I hear that it is the new Moscow, as a historian and a contemporary who has lived too long in a world without freedom, I strongly protest."

About Pressman's speech, he said: "You should never take offense at a criticism, but look at the reality of it. I have found, not only now, in Pressman's speech, but also in many other criticisms, that most of them are well-founded. Let's talk and debate about what is not. The American ambassador also blamed the lack of dialogue. This speech was not an ultimatum, but goodwill."

He added that he does not think it is wrong at all for a government to express its opinion based on party sympathies, worldview-political interests, especially since it is not possible to influence millions of voters in other countries anyway.

Pressman also said, "it may be that the Orbán government wants to wait for the resignation of the current US government,

but we will certainly not wait in relation to the Orbán government". 

Jeszenszky does not consider this to be an open threat, he believes that the American ambassador is just throwing the ball back regarding the fact that the Hungarian government is openly waiting for Trump to return.

"However, the Biden government was not aloof at the beginning, Hungary was the one that sounded the most hostile towards the current American president even during the elections. This is not good politics, it is a gamble, keeping one iron in the fire instead of two. At the same time, the USA will accept what the Hungarian voters will decide. He may not be happy, but that's another matter."

According to Jeszenszky, the American ambassador's suggestion that Hungary is increasingly isolated from NATO, and that NATO is avoiding Hungary, is completely logical.

"In a country that openly supports the Russians in the war - as Pressman said very well, the immediate peace that we are calling for, in the current situation, especially if Ukraine does not receive further support, would mean capitulation, i.e. the defeat of Ukraine - how could you trust ? It is Hungary's attitude towards the war, in which NATO is more united than ever since the Cold War, than ever before, that we are the black sheep. And the fact that Hungary obstructed the expansion of NATO, especially the Swedish one, which only strengthens the organization, adds another shovel to all of this."

However, he also evaluated Pressman's words in this regard not as a threat, but as a warning in good faith.

"America is ready to open a new page at any time, it only depends on the Hungarian government. 

The entire Pressman speech hints at this, which was full of benevolence, courtship,

because the politician also remembered Hungary's participation in the American War of Independence, Kossuth's influence on Lincoln and the Hungarian Nobel laureates, i.e. the many positive aspects of the relationship between America and Hungary," summed up Géza Jeszenszky.

Front page image: Illustration / MTI Photo, Szilár Koszticsák