Hungary up in arms after US senator calls prime minister 'neo-fascist dictator'
Source: The Guardian
Hungarys foreign ministry summoned the US envoy on Wednesday after the US senator John McCain called Prime Minister Viktor Orban a neo-fascist dictator.
The United States has become increasingly critical of Orbans government, accusing him of getting too close to Russia since east-west tensions rose over Ukraine.
Hungarys foreign minister called in the US chargé daffaires, Andrea Goodfriend, over McCains comments, made in the US Senate during a political spat over the appointment of Hollywood producer Colleen Bell as US ambassador in Budapest.
McCain, a Republican, told the Senate on Tuesday: I am not against political appointees
I understand how the game is played, but
[Hungary]
is on the verge of ceding its sovereignty to a neo-fascist dictator, getting in bed with Vladimir Putin, and were going to send the producer of The Bold and The Beautiful as the ambassador. Bell has since been approved in the Senate and is expected to take up her position in Hungary.
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/03/mccain-calls-hungary-prime-minister-neo-facist-dictator
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)clear the air.
Yet there he is week after week an honored guest of the mass media.....it is unexplainable.
McCain reminds me of certain criminal lawyers and political commentators that value publicity over credibility, publicity is like a drug to these pitiful addicts.
former9thward
(31,804 posts)We would not want to have Hungary or Putin offended.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)Maybe you want to read the article before your knee jerk rush to judgment, I will give you the benefit of the doubt on that.
former9thward
(31,804 posts)Hungary is moving to an alliance with Russia. I have seen Putin described as a fascist countless times on DU. Has that changed?
Android3.14
(5,402 posts)Gee, doesn't sit too well when someone does it to you, eh Fred?
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)pscot
(21,023 posts)uhnope
(6,419 posts)rpannier
(24,304 posts)Czech Republic.
McCain is pretty much right about Hungary.
I would provide you with the articles, but post #7 has already done that
Yes, I agree with McCain. It's irrelevant that he's a Republican.
think
(11,641 posts)Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)Good enough for President for the asshat that chose Palin.
uhnope
(6,419 posts)Do not look away from the tragedy of Hungary
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-04-07/is-hungary-the-eu-s-only-dictatorship
The world is in denial about the situation under PM Viktor Orban
He's Hitler-like regarding the Roma
Hungary's Racism Problem: Orbán Friend Says Roma 'Shouldn't Be Allowed to Exist'
Zsolt Bayer, a prominent conservative commentator, has sparked outrage in Hungary and abroad for comparing Roma to animals and saying they "shouldn't be allowed to exist." Criticism of the remarks is growing, but Prime Minister Orbán will likely keep silent.
http://www.errc.org/article/forced-evictions-in-hungary-letter-to-hungarian-prime-minister-viktor-orban--open-letter/226
On August 9, 2000, the ERRC sent a letter to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to express concern at recent evictions of Roma from their housing in various parts of Hungary, as well as about recent legislation which may lead to large numbers of abusive evictions on racist grounds.
Just because McCain said it doesn't mean it's not true, but the Putinistas will scream and cry, hmm I wonder why
Viktor Orban Steers Hungary Toward Russia 25 Years After Fall of the Berlin Wall
snappyturtle
(14,656 posts)It seems we're doing everything possible to restore cold war status with Russia. Dumb. imho
I would like to see a diplomat with extensive foreign service take this post.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,154 posts)Without ellipses:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30318898
If Hungary is 'ceding its sovereignty', surely that wouldn't be to its own PM, but to someone external - ie Putin?
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)....?...
Struggling to defend The One That Chose Palin over the twice elected President of your own party...part of why the voting folk stay away.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,154 posts)It wouldn't really make sense, would it? So the dictator is the person in the sentence - Putin.
"the twice elected President of your own party"? Huh? What has this to do with Obama? He's not in the story at all. It's the Hungarian government that is complaining about McCain. The nearest we get to Obama is "the United States has become increasingly critical of Orbans government, accusing him of getting too close to Russia since east-west tensions rose over Ukraine", which is closer to McCain's view, but diplomatic. I'm not saying it was a good idea of McCain to put it this way, but Orban is a toady of Putin's.
"part of why the voting folk stay away"? You are not making any sense at all.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,154 posts)It's all very well appointing supporters to ambassadorships that consist mainly of holding receptions and staying friends with the country, but Hungary has gone a long way to the right. I recommend the guest posts on Paul Krugman's blog for background:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22krugman%22+%22hungary%22
Their attitude to Roma, and sometimes Jews, is very worrying:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/03/09/287342069/increased-hostility-against-jews-and-roma-in-hungary
A recent article:
Rightwing prime minister Viktor Orbán is using his huge electoral majority to rewrite the rules, and not just for Hungary
Bernadett Szél, MP and co-leader of a small Green liberal party, cites the events in Kishantos and Budapest as a prime example of the endless cynicism of the prime minister and his party, Fidesz, whose actions and policies set him apart in the European Union, and are setting off alarm bells in Brussels and Washington. Kishantos is a symbol of what Orbán is doing. Its pure power and pure destruction. Fidesz is the state. The party is the state. We dont know how to end that.
In a time of collapsing public confidence in the political classes across Europe, Orbán can claim to be unique a gifted, popular strongman with the most formidable electoral mandate in the EU. Untroubled by a fragmented and morally bankrupt centre-left opposition, Orbán led his rightwing Fidesz to a landslide victory in 2010. He coasted to a second term last April, won the European elections in May and in October took control of virtually every town and city in Hungary in local elections.
Highly unusually, he has a two-thirds parliamentary majority, meaning that the vast Westminster lookalike on the banks of the Danube in Budapest is a rubber stamp. After his election hat-trick this year, he need not face the voters again until 2018. He shows every sign of using that time to reshape Hungary.
...
The number one item on Orbáns destroy list appears to be the western democratic model. In an infamous speech to supporters in Romania in July, he declared the western model dead and cited the authoritarian regimes of Russia, China, Turkey and Singapore as the templates to follow. We are parting ways with western European dogmas, making ourselves independent from them, he declared. We have to abandon liberal methods and principles of organising a society. The new state that we are building is an illiberal state, a non-liberal state.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/29/budapest-viktor-orban-democracy-edge-hungary
So it's a worrying political situation, and one that a senator is within his rights to say should be handled by a professional diplomat, not a fundraiser who works in TV. McCain just said it in way that inflames tensions, rather than helping get a better-qualified ambassador appointed.
Dawson Leery
(19,348 posts)Viktor Orban has given every implication if he could get away with it, he would round up Jews, Gays, Immigrants, and send them into concentration camps. He can't do it because Hungary is a western nation, the EU will give them hell and isolate the nation.