The US is too close

We have already seen the unfriendly moves of the liberal Biden administration before the visa restrictions.

20230417 Pécs Pécsre utazott David Pressman amerikai nagykövet, aki nyilvános program keretében látogatott el a Pécsi Tudományegyetemre, majd a Nemzeti Virológiai Laboratóriumba ment. Később „off the record” háttérbeszélgetést tartott. David Pressman egy Soros Györgyhöz köthető helyi alapítványt is meglátogatott. Fotó: Laufer László LL Dunántúli Napló DN A képen: David Pressman USA nagykövet a pécsi belvárosban Fotó: Laufer László

The US Embassy in Budapest recently informed the Hungarian government that the US will reduce the validity of travel authorizations for Hungarian passport holders applying through the electronic travel authorization system. The term will be one year instead of the previous two, and the authorization will be limited to a single use.

Commenting on the surprise announcement, Bence Retvari, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Interior Ministry, said that the visa restrictions could be seen as revenge because Hungary is not prepared to hand over the data of the 900,000 Hungarians abroad with dual citizenship to the US. According to the state secretary, "there is no guarantee that if we comply with this request, the data of Hungarians from Transcarpathia will not be passed on to Ukraine, which would have serious consequences for the Hungarian population there because of the ban on dual citizenship in Ukraine.”

These developments recall my only trip to the United States in 1996. Then, thanks to Sandor Puski, I was invited by the Hungarians in New York to give a lecture on the state of the conservative press in Hungary at the launch of my book at the Arpad Hall on 82nd Street in Manhattan.

Before the trip, I encountered the US visa application questionnaire for the first time and was quite surprised by the strange nature of some of the questions. I thought it was understandable that the authorities of a superpower would want to filter out those who fell into the 'inadmissible' category, for example those who had ever been arrested or convicted of a misdemeanor or felony. For example, those who had been involved in drug trafficking, prostitution or procuring; those who had been expelled from the United States within the previous five years; those who had applied for admission to violate export bans; or those who had been deemed subversive, terrorist or a person constituting a similar threat. These rules were, and still are, entirely legitimate and reasonable.

On the other hand, it seemed overly curious that the US authorities also asked for the applicant's work address and telephone number, and wanted to know about previous places of residence where the person had been living for more than six months over a five-year period. The most curious question on the questionnaire was: "Have you ever ordered, instigated or otherwise participated in the persecution of persons on account of their religion, political or racial origin, under the direct or indirect control of the government of a country occupied by or allied to the German Nazi government, or in genocide?” This was curious because the questionnaire asked about participation in persecution on the grounds of religion, politics or race only in the context of the German Nazis, and did not inquire at all about such crimes if they were committed in the service of the Soviet-Bolshevik regime.

After getting through the screening, I had the opportunity to enter the famous skyscrapers and look down from the top of one of the Twin Towers, which was still standing at the time. I then went to the Statue of Liberty, walked along Wall Street, Central Park, drove around Manhattan, and the real treat, saw the musical Cats on Broadway. I was also very impressed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with its fascinating array of exhibits from all over the world. During the two weeks I spent there, I saw not only tourist attractions but many disturbing signs of a multicultural society, and I left with the distinct feeling that life in Hungary is a thousand times better than over there, even if we are more modest in terms of material resources.

At that time we still thought that the USA, a country on the other side of the world, was far away. But today we see that it is very close, and its proximity is becoming increasingly worrying. We have seen the unfriendly moves of the left-liberal Biden administration even before the visa restrictions. Just think of Ambassador Pressman's statements threatening to put pressure on Hungary if it blocks the NATO accession of Finland and Sweden.

Another provocative statement by him was that Hungary is echoing the views of President Putin. Mr Pressman said this after Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto took the liberty of traveling to Moscow without US permission.

For some reason, it did not bother Pressman that the great power he represents was provoking another great power by expanding NATO, that the United States was prolonging the war in Ukraine and delaying the prospect of peace by excessive arms supplies and financial support.

According to the US ambassador, who is interfering in our internal affairs, Hungary’s struggle against the migrant issue, gender theory and the woke phenomenon is a pseudo-culture war, while the war in Ukraine is a real problem and should be dealt with. Yes, we also consider the war to be a real problem. Perhaps it should not be further fueled here in Hungary's neighborhood.

The author is a writer and journalist

Cover photo: US Ambassador David Pressman (Photo by Laszlo Laufer)