The ambassador delivered a speech in Budapest to mark the 248th anniversary of the independence of the United States of America. David Pressman began his remarks (full text available on the diplomatic mission's website) by assessing Tuesday's trip to Kyiv by the Hungarian prime minister and current head of the rotating presidency of the European Council, initially calling the meeting remarkable, but later, not passing up the opportunity to take the usual dig at the Hungarian leadership.
In the ambassador's opening:
The United States has been encouraging the Ukrainian government and Hungarian government to engage each other directly at senior levels to work through their differences. Prime Minister Orban’s travel to Ukraine is significant and it is a meaningful step. We will watch carefully to see what comes out of today’s meetings, but it is important to acknowledge that they are taking place. While we would have loved to have him and his team here today, it is far better that they are there.
Pressman then went on to sarcastically mention his awareness of the upcoming US presidential elections.
I know this, in part, because your prime minister continues to remind us, daily, of who he would like to win that election, who he would vote for if he were an American, which he is not,
the diplomat underlined, noting that Viktor Orban is the leader of Hungary, which is an ally of the US.
We have no other Ally or partner – not a single one – that similarly, overtly and tirelessly, campaigns for a specific candidate in an election in the United States of America, seemingly convinced that, no matter what, it only helps Hungary, or at least helps him personally,
David Pressman said without mentioning the name of former President Donald Trump. He went on with a rhetorical question: "What does it mean when a leader behaves as if an alliance is not between countries, but only between perceived ideological allies within them?"
While Viktor Orban was the only Western leader traveling to the Ukrainian capital to discuss peace and not the continuation of the war, Pressman continued with the attacks on him and on Hungary.
Partisanizing a bilateral relationship is a dangerous proposition. This is especially true between Allies, especially at such a consequential time. This does not serve the Hungarian people, and, along with a host of other strategic decisions taken in Budapest, it risks changing Hungary’s relationship with America,
the head of the US Embassy threatened, warning that the Hungarian government would do well not to reduce Hungarian-American relations to the level of mere party politics. He stressed:
You see, just as no single President defines America, no single Prime Minister defines Hungary. Our democracies are bigger than any one person – or, at least, they should be — and so too should our commitments to each other.
Pressman regularly interferes in Hungary's internal affairs
Ambassador David Pressman suffers from a major confusion of roles, according to Balazs Orban, as Nagyar Nemzet reported earlier.
The prime minister's policy chief in a long post criticized David Pressman, who regularly interferes in Hungarian domestic affairs. In his critique, he recalled that "the US Embassy in Budapest recently attacked Hungary for continuing to purchase natural gas from Russia". Balazs Orban explained that
energy security is a sovereignty issue. Any ambassador accredited here lashing out against Hungary over such specific policy issues shows a complete confusion about their role. These issues are no business of any incumbent ambassador or foreign power.
"The Hungarian government is accountable only to Hungarian voters," he added.
Cover photo: David Pressman, the United States ambassador to Budapest, carrying his country's flag in the 29th Budapest Pride Parade on Budapest's Andrassy Avenue on June 22, 2024 (Photo: MTI/Robert Hegedus)
