Difficult to get visa by U.S., Hungary retaliated to make it difficult for Sweden NATO bid
Difficult to get visa by U.S., Hungary retaliated to make it difficult for Sweden NATO bid
Writer is in-house disrupter in International Relations Indonesia
5.51pm Budapest / 11.51am Washington DC
After (surprising) Erdogan warm attitude in NATO Summit 3 weeks ago in Vilnius (say yes for Sweden bid), now “in house disrupter” in Europe continent is (maybe) Hungary Viktor Mihály Orban alone. Former POTUS Bill Clinton said:
“Neither the EU nor NATO could stay within the borders Stalin had imposed in 1945. Many countries that had been behind the Iron Curtain were seeking greater freedom, prosperity, and security with the EU and NATO, under inspiring leaders such as Václav Havel in the Czech Republic, Lech Wałęsa in Poland, and, yes, a young pro-democracy Viktor Mihály Orbán in Hungary. Thousands of everyday citizens crowded the squares of Prague, Warsaw, Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia, and beyond whenever I spoke there.”
Hungary to be NATO member since March 12, 1999, and to be EU member since May 1st, 2004.
The United States on Tuesday (August 1st, 2023) sharply limited Hungary’s participation in its visa waiver program over security concerns regarding new passports issued between 2011 and 2020. After coming to power in 2010, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Mihály Orbán’s government implemented a major policy change that granted citizenship to ethnic Hungarians abroad — including in Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine. Domestic critics say Orbán’s controversial move was designed to boost his electoral prospects.
From H.Res.400 (2019) “Whereas…fraud and corruption has enabled at least 85 criminals to obtain Hungarian passports and enter or attempt to enter the United States, and Hungary has given refuge to some individuals convicted of corruption in other countries.”
Hungary scored 42 points out of 100 on the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International. Corruption Index in Hungary averaged 48.91 Points from 1995 until 2022, reaching an all-time high of 55.00 Points in 2012 and a record low of 41.20 in 1995. The scale has a range from 0 to 100, with 100 meaning a perfectly corruption-free country.
According to 2021 data, Visa approval by US Embassy for Hungarian actually high, 83.33%.
Retaliation (implicit) by Hungary? A vote in Hungary’s parliament to ratify Sweden's NATO bid was adjourned. The move was postponed after members of the ruling party, move was postponed after members of the ruling party, which has a two-thirds majority in Parliament, did not attend the meeting. Hungary has vowed to back Türkiye's decision on Sweden's bid to join NATO. "We...will not hold up any country in terms of membership," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
(David Pressman)
David Pressman, the U.S. ambassador in Budapest, “There are hundreds of thousands of passports that have been issued by the government of Hungary as part of the simplified naturalization program without stringent identity verification mechanisms in place.” The U.S. government has been engaging the Hungarian government on this “security vulnerability” for many years and across multiple administrations, Pressman said. But “the government of Hungary has opted not to close” it.
The U.S. government has been engaging the Hungarian government on this “security vulnerability” for many years and across multiple administrations, Pressman said. But “the government of Hungary has opted not to close” it. “This is a really unfortunate day,” Pressman said. “This is not the outcome the United States sought or is seeking.” Washington’s move comes at a time when Hungary’s relationship with Western partners is at a low point."
The gradually to be low(est) point US-Hungary aren’t immediately, but after long-term difficulties direction.
April 11, 2023, U.S. imposed sanctions on a Hungary-based bank linked to Russia, marking a new low point in Hungary’s relationship with Washington.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced the penalties, which will target the International Investment Bank (IIB), a controversial institution located in Budapest with ties to the Russian state. The bank’s presence in Hungary has drawn the ire of Western officials, who fear it could be used for Russian intelligence operations inside Europe.
U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman said Washington had repeatedly shared information with Hungarian counterparts about how Russia could use the bank to expand its influence — to no avail.
“Unlike other NATO allies previously engaged with this Russian entity,” the ambassador said, “Hungary has dismissed the concerns of the United States government regarding the risks its continued presence poses to the alliance.”
The IIB was originally created in 1970 to foster trade within the Soviet bloc and moved its headquarters from Moscow to Budapest in 2019 despite worries from Hungary’s allies.
“We have concerns,” Pressman said, “about the continued eagerness of Hungarian leaders to expand and deepen ties with the Russian Federation.”
In addition to the broader IIB sanctions, the U.S. will also penalize three individuals affiliated with the bank’s leadership — former board chair Nikolay Kosov, a Russian citizen, and two current senior management officials, Imre Laszlóczki, a Hungarian, and Georgy Potapov, a Russian.
While Hungary is a member of both NATO and the EU, U.S. officials have expressed growing concern over the past decade about Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s moves to centralize power at home and build closer ties abroad with Moscow and Beijing.
But the relationship has deteriorated significantly since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Figures close to Orbán have promoted Russian-style anti-American narratives at home, prompting outrage among Western partners.
Unlike most of its NATO allies, Budapest has maintained a relationship with the Kremlin, with Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó even traveling to Moscow for talks earlier this week on gas shipments, oil transit fees and an ongoing nuclear power plant project. An ongoing campaign in Hungary’s government-controlled press targeting Pressman, the U.S. ambassador, has further strained relations.
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