Media outlets were extensively informed a number of times about Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s engagements during his visit to Washington. It is therefore astonishing that the Hungarian media and some politicians have been unable or unwilling to understand the facts, and inform the public accordingly.
We reiterate:
As a guest of President Barack Obama, Viktor Orbán attended the Washington Nuclear Security Summit, together with nearly fifty heads of state and government. The summit was particularly successful from a Hungarian perspective. In nuclear matters our country has been assessed as being developed; its training and security systems have both been assessed as outstanding. During the course of bilateral talks, attendees from the nations represented discussed the types of nuclear developments they would be planning. Due to the increased level of terror threat, the security of nuclear power plants is particularly important, so participants also discussed cooperation frameworks. Hungary received an award for its efforts to fully eradicate reserves of highly enriched uranium. This award was received by Minister of National Development Miklós Seszták. (We also informed media outlets of this.) Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó was also part of the Hungarian delegation. Members of the press had access to information in the news archives on his work and negotiations.
Prior to the summit, the Prime Minister spent some free time with his family in Washington, the expenses of which (travel, accommodation, etc.) he paid himself; the public was also informed of this fact at the time. Therefore to claim that family members’ travel expenses were paid from taxpayers’ money is a deliberate lie.
It is also a lie to claim that the Press Office of the Prime Minister “did not provide information about the official programmes”. This office provides media outlets with information on all of the Prime Minister’s official and public programmes; this was also the case for the Washington visit, as can be checked in the news archives.
We do not release any information about the Prime Minister’s private engagements and free time activities, and neither shall we do so in the future.
Bertalan Havasi
Press Chief of the Prime Minister