"It is timely to tally up people of Jewish ancestry who live here, especially in the Hungarian Parliament," Márton Gyöngyösi said in 2012.Continue reading
Washington imposes sanctions on more than 50 institutions and individuals in order to limit Russia’s access to the international financial system – announced US Ambassador David Pressman in Budapest on Wednesday. The institutions include the Budapest-based International Investment Bank (IIB) and three of its top officials, including Imre Laszloczki. Laszlóczki was previously Hungarian ambassador to Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Also included on the sanctions list is Georgij Nugzarovich Potapov, Russian citizen and Deputy Chairman of the Governing Council of the IBB, reported Hungarian Daily, Magyar Nemzet.
The ambassador said that the bank’s headquarters were moved from Moscow to Budapest in 2019, and that Washington has repeatedly expressed concerns that the presence of the Kremlin-funded platform poses a threat to European countries, but the Hungarian government has dismissed these concerns.
Photo: Facebook International Investment Bank
We are concerned that the Hungarian government continues to have deep and strong ties with Russia, said Pressman. He added that Hungary is indirectly feeding the Russian war machine.
The ambassador stressed, however, that good cooperation with Hungary is important to Washington and that the United States is committed to moving relations in the right direction.
Today, the United States announced sanctions that will curb Russia’s access to the international financial system, including the Budapest-based, Russia-controlled International Investment Bank & three of its senior executives resident in Hungary. https://t.co/73jbV19a0D
— Ambassador David Pressman (@USAmbHungary) April 12, 2023
In response to a question from Magyar Nemzet, Pressman said that Márton Gyöngyösi, leader of the far-right Jobbik party, was invited to the Seder Jewsih holiday evening at the embassy despite his previous anti-Semitic statements, “because it is important for them to engage in dialogue with Hungarians of different opinions and attitudes, even those with whom they disagree”.
The Russian embassy in Budapest reacted to the press conference on Telegram, saying that “the way the U.S. Embassy framed the announcement of yet another, essentially routine and insignificant action by Washington’s sanctions machine was a vivid demonstration of authoritarian foreign policy and had only one goal – to show who is the boss and what can happen if someone dares to disobey him”.
Featured Photo: Facebook U.S. Embassy Budapest