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 U.S. Chargé d'Affaires André Goodfriend criticized some of Prime
Minister Viktor Orban's policies towards Russia such as support for
the South Stream gas pipeline and granting Russia a contract to
expand Hungary's Paks nuclear plant in a process that he said lacked
transparency.
This week the United States said six Hungarians - public servants or
people with government connections - had been banned from entering
the U.S. because of alleged corruption. Budapest has asked the U.S.
to present the evidence for the allegations.
Goodfriend told a news conference on Friday that the ban was not
based upon Hungarian policies, but was related to specific action
taken by the individuals, whom he declined to name.
He said Hungary, once an example for others after its peaceful
transition to liberal democracy after 1989, was rapidly becoming a
place where the rule of law has weakened and civil society has come
under attack.
 Orban's government has clashed several times with the European Union
and the United States over reforms that critics said harmed some
foreign investors and weakened the system of checks and balances in
the former communist country.
BILATERAL DISCUSSIONS
Goodfriend said the U.S. has discussed several issues with Budapest
regarding its relations with Russia.
Given Russia's role in the Ukraine crisis, he said, Budapest should
"stand firm with the EU, with EU sanctions," and "to understand the
sensitivities on the ethnic nationalism question."
"Particularly with calls for autonomy among Hungarian ethnic
nationals in Ukraine," Goodfriend said, "this is not the time to
have that discussion."
It was not the time for Hungary "to break with its EU partners to
criticize so publicly the approach that the partners have taken and
which Hungary agreed to," he said.
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Orban, reelected in a landslide win in April, called for autonomy
for about 200,000 ethnic Hungarians in western Ukraine earlier this
year.
Hungary, along with some other eastern European countries, has
criticized the EU's economic sanctions against Russia.
Heavily reliant on gas from Russia, Budapest is also strongly
promoting the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline. The EU
has yet to rule on whether the $40 billion project complies with
European Union law.
Hungary argues that South Stream would boost its energy security by
providing an alternative supply route.
Goodfriend said the U.S. could not agree with Hungary's policy to
diversify the routes for its gas purchases, instead of diversifying
its sources.
"We disagree with that approach, because we think that diversifying
sources is what's important," he said. South Stream would provide
gas from the same source - Russia - that already provided gas to
Hungary, he said.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
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