The Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (KKM) are calling for full publicity with regard to the entry ban imposed by the United States of America – Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said at a press conference held on Saturday afternoon in Budapest.
The leader of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that he had informed parliamentary group leaders about the issue on Saturday morning: he managed to speak with Fidesz group leader Antal Rogán, KDNP group leader Péter Harrach and with MSZP group leader József Tóbiás; he was unable to contact Jobbik group leader Gábor Vona, but he talked to a representative of the party, Márton Gyöngyösi. Péter Szijjártó said that he called for full publicity with regard to the case, in agreement with the parliamentary parties, including the opposition.
He added that they had agreed with Fidesz group leader Antal Rogán’s proposal that the National Assembly’s Committee on National Security should address the case in a public session on Monday and (if they meet to discuss the issue) the Committee on Foreign Affairs should also become involved.
Péter Szijjártó said that André Goodfriend, Chargé d'Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Budapest had talked to the KKM concerning the fewer than ten Hungarian citizens who were forbidden to enter the U.S. without disclosing names. As regards the Chargé d'Affaires’ reference in a statement to the involvement of government officials in conjunction with the entry ban, Péter Szijjártó declared that the Americans had not informed any member of the government that they were banned from entering the United States.
Péter Szijjártó emphasised that this was a very serious issue; there was no scope for guesswork, assumptions or “smoke screens”. Hungary is still looking to receive, as soon as possible, credible information – as the statement of the U.S. Embassy in Budapest called it – on the basis of which the United States has accused Hungarian citizens of corruption, he added.
Péter Szijjártó also said that he was planning to meet Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs of the United States Victoria Nuland on Tuesday in Washington, and he hoped that they could also discuss this issue. He also said that he would travel from the United States to Canada, but first he would participate in the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday in Luxemburg. Therefore, Minister of State for Economic Diplomacy Levente Magyar will participate in the meeting of the National Security Committee on Monday and in a possible meeting of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs of Committee on Tuesday.
The Minister emphasised that Hungary and the United States are close allies. He described cooperation between the two countries within the fields of the economy and defence as excellent, adding that Hungary, as a neighbour of Ukraine, is now regarded as a country of great importance within NATO.
According to information published on the website of Hungarian economic daily Napi Gazdaság on Thursday, several institutions and companies of U.S. interest are currently under tax investigation in Hungary. According to the newspaper, the Americans responded to this by banning the heads of the authorities involved in the investigations from entering the United States.
Responding to questions from M1 News, the U.S. Embassy in Budapest said that they had no knowledge of any investigation by the National Tax and Customs Administration of Hungary (NAV) against any Hungary-based American company or institution, and no action was taken by the U.S. as a result of such an investigation. At the same time, the delegation said that it had found that “certain Hungarian private individuals” were not entitled to enter the United States since “there is credible information showing that these persons are involved in or are benefiting from corruption activities”.
Because of U.S. privacy laws, no names can be disclosed, they added.
Chargé d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Budapest André Goodfriend said during an informal discussion on Friday that Hungarian “government officials”, involved in corruption according to the American authorities, are not entitled to enter the United States. However, in his interview with M1 News, André Goodfriend is quoted as saying “members of the government”.
The Chargé d'Affaires was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Friday. Following their meeting, Péter Szijjártó emphasised at a press conference: if the American government fails to provide the requested information, it would raise the suspicion that it only wants to exert influence on certain matters.