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US Will Not Interfere in Hungarian Elections, Says Deputy Chief of Mission

Hungary Today 2022.01.24.

Marc Dillard, Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in Budapest, told RTL that the United States will not interfere in the April elections in Hungary. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó was reported to have raised the possibility of foreign intervention back in November in an interview for the Financial Times. Then, however, in another interview for CNN, he denied having said it.

According to press reports in November, Szijjártó said they expected that the United States would try to interfere in the upcoming Hungarian election through the Global Magnitsky Act. According to him, the same act was used by the USA to topple former Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borisov.

Later, Szijjártó denied accusing the USA of planning to interfere in the Hungarian elections. In his interview with CNN, he said that in the region of Central Europe, “…we always have to count on the West and East, so both sides want to influence this region. Unfortunately, this is what our history is about.” He added that “these kinds of attempts to have an influence on this region are continuous and will be here with us in the future also,” and that the secret services “have already detected some preparations in this regard that certain countries, certain entities, certain organizations would like to influence the public will in Hungary, even regarding the elections.”

Coronavirus, EU, Alleged American Interference - FM Szijjártó Interviewed Again by CNN
Coronavirus, EU, Alleged American Interference - FM Szijjártó Interviewed Again by CNN

The Foreign Minister shared the video on his Facebook page, and wrote: "Left-liberal press equation: 1 CNN interview = 3 questions = 3 false claims."Continue reading

However, Fox News‘s Tucker Carlson, an open advocate of the Orbán government, also mentioned recently that the US will interfere in the Hungarian elections while interviewing Szijjártó.

Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in Budapest, Marc Dillard, has now said that the United States respects Hungary’s sovereignty and democratic institutions and that they are confident that the electorate will make the right choice about the path the country should follow.

Featured image: Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (on the left) and Marc Dillard (on the right), Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the U.S. Embassy in Budapest, at the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Forum at the Parliament House on September 6, 2021. Photo by Lajos Soós/MTI


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