Senior US diplomat says DC is 'concerned' about Hungary relationship

A senior US diplomat said Friday that Washington is concerned about the US-Hungary relationship, accusing Budapest of taking a divisive approach to bilateral relations.

"It is a relationship at a very dynamic moment, it is important that we get it right, and we are concerned where things stand," US Agency for International Development (USAID) chief Samantha Power told reporters during a trip to Budapest.

The most senior US official to visit Hungary since President Joe Biden took office in 2021, Power met with journalists, NGOs, high school students, and members of the LGBTQ community, as well as government officials.

In December USAID relaunched its work in several countries in Central Europe including Hungary, supporting independent media, civil society, and organisations working to protect rule of law.

Power's visit comes a week after Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said criticism by US Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman of Budapest's ambiguous position on Russia's war in Ukraine was "irrelevant".

"It is none of his business, it is not his job to interfere in Hungary's domestic affairs," said Szijjarto, adding that the ambassador should have "more respect".

"Respectfully, we do not consider Russia's attempt to unilaterally redraw the borders of Europe as just a 'domestic political development in Hungary', said Pressman in a Twitter reply to Szijjarto.

An openly gay human rights lawyer who lives in Budapest with his husband and two children, Pressman has been accused by pro-government media of undermining traditional values, and meddling in Hungary's judiciary.

"The Hungarian government's politicised approach to our relationship is divisive, unproductive, and as we see time and again based on clear falsehoods," said Power on Friday.

"The US-Hungarian relationship is one that is being watched very carefully in Washington," she added.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who refuses to send weapons to Ukraine and calls for peace talks, endorsed Biden's rival Donald Trump in the 2020 US election and maintains close ties with ultra-conservative US politicians.

The Obama administration, in which Biden served as vice-president, had given Orban the cold shoulder and warned against his clampdown on the judiciary, press, and civil society organisations.