U.S. Denial of Visas for 6 in Hungary Strains Ties

[alp227]

Source: NY Times

BUDAPEST — A move by the United States government to declare six unnamed Hungarian public officials suspected of corruption ineligible for visas has blown up into a diplomatic incident that has transfixed Hungarian political circles and provided fresh evidence of growing tension between the two nations.

American diplomats, who have been monitoring public corruption in Hungary for more than a decade, detected “a deterioration of the situation, an overall downward trend,” according to M. Andre Goodfriend, chargé d’affaires at the American Embassy here.

“The situation, if it continues in this way, it will be impossible to work together as allies,” said Mr. Goodfriend, who has been running the embassy in the absence of a permanent ambassador. “That is what we want to avoid.”

Indeed, there has long been friction between Washington and the conservative government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Mr. Orban’s election victories have cemented his position as Hungary’s undisputed boss, and his steps to centralize power, stymie opponents, and alter laws in ways that benefit his party and his allies have led to fears of creeping authoritarianism.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/21/world/europe/us-denial-of-visas-for-6-in-hungary-strains-ties.html

[newfie11]

1. Isn't this funny considering our corrupt public officials

"Hungarian public officials suspected of corruption ".

Why would we deny them a visa when we have most of congress on the take.

[MBS]

5. the Hungarian officials in question

take corruption to a whole other level. The current crew of Republican morons in the US Congress and state governments are mere amateurs compared to these guys. Hungarian prime minister Orban aspires to be a mini-Putin, suddenly showing "concern" for Hungarian minorities in Slovakia and Rumania, which I'm sure brings up memories (for Slovakia, Rumania and other countries) of the (very) bad old days of the Hungarian empire and its abuse of the minorities under its thumb.
True to form, the Hungarian government has essentially sabotaged EU/NATO attempts to present a united front against Putin. And this move has to be related to that as well. See

http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/press-release/us-sanctions-target-corrupt-hungarian-officials

Washington, D.C. – Human Rights First today welcomed reports that the United States has imposed visa bans on ten members of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s inner circle, preventing them from entering the United States, in a rare move against a NATO country. . . .“Orban can’t have it both ways; he can’t erode democratic norms, restrict media freedom, crack down on NGOs, and declare ‘illiberal democracy,’ yet remain a member in good standing of liberal democratic alliances like the E.U., NATO and the Community of Democracies,” said Human Rights First’s Sonni Efron. “The White House has been sending stronger and stronger signals that Hungary’s violations of democratic norms, rule of law, and universal human rights are unacceptable.”

Hungary recently cut off gas supplies to Ukraine after meeting with the Russian energy company, Gazprom. Its harassment of nongovernmental organizations, restrictions on the media, constitutional changes that concentrate presidential powers, and allegations of widespread corruption among businesses that are close to the ruling party, Fidesz, all closely track Russia’s path toward authoritarianism under President Vladimir Putin. “Today’s sanctions are a warning that if Orban continues to take a page out of Putin’s playbook, his inner circle will face the same sort of sanctions as Putin’s,” Efron added.
. . . . .
Human Rights First’s recent report, “We're not Nazis, but...The Rise of Hate Parties in Hungary and Greece and Why America Should Care,” details how the Hungarian government’s actions over the past four years that have violated religious freedoms, curtailed judicial independence and media freedom, and failed to combat a rising tide of violent antisemitism. These actions have led to a series of rebukes by the European Union, the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and from Hungary’s own Supreme Court. Among the report’s recommendations are the following steps the U.S. government should take to curtail Hungary’s slide towards authoritarianism:

Urge fellow members of the Governing Council of the Community of Democracies to vote at its next meeting in December to replace Hungary with a member state more committed to liberal democracy.
Urge its European Union allies to consider Article 7 proceedings to strip Hungary of its E.U. voting rights.
Make clear that Hungary’s professed zero-tolerance policy against antisemitism is meaningless unless enforced by a) disciplining officials who make antisemitic or anti-Roma statements, b) ending historical revisionism that downplays Hungarians’ role in the Holocaust, and c) revising its textbooks and curriculum to reflect this.
Urge Hungary to step up protection of minority rights, particularly the rights of Roma, after a local election campaign that played on anti-Roma sentiment in many districts.
Urge Hungary to end the crackdown on civil society and stop demonizing Hungarian NGOs that accept foreign funds as “foreign agents.”

[winstars]

2. undisputed boss, and his steps to centralize power, stymie opponents, and alter laws in ways that..

benefit his party and his allies have led to fears of creeping authoritarianism.

Sounds like what the republican scum are doing here to me...

So in another country this is "creeping authoritarianism" but here in 'Merica, is nothing to see move along time...

WTF?

[Dustlawyer]

3. I know, right!

[Jake Stern]

4. Fidesz did good with simplified naturalization

but that's about it.