Then in October came this demarche, as far as I know, oral diplomatic note, and finally, on December 23 Mrs. Hillary Clinton sent another letter which according to some sources even harsher. So, now, how optimistic are you, is the Hungarian government listening to all these pieces of criticism?

Ambassador Kounalakis: Well you certainly laid out the course of events and the progression but I would really like to stress is that in all of these communications that we have been having with the Hungarian government the United States is engaging as a friend. We are not here to tell the Hungarian government which laws to pass, we are not here to determine what the policy should be. But as a friend, and as a country with a long history and reputation of promoting strong democracies, we have had some concerns. And yes over the course of this last year or so we have been consistently raising those concerns with the government.

Question: In your observation, is the government listening?

Ambassador Kounalakis: I can tell you that we felt our engagement was very open; the doors were always open to us. It really did appear as though we were getting our concerns through in a very constructive way. So, I can tell you quite sincerely that we were really surprised at the end of the year when several of the really key laws were moved forward in such a way that appeared not at all to have addressed our concerns. And again, we were promoting these things as a friend, but they were very serious concerns.

We‘ve recognized from the beginning that the government came into office with a mandate for change, with a very rigorous agenda for reform in this country and we really respect that. In fact, we’ve taken every opportunity to be helpful as the government has attempted to reform many of the institutions that we agreed could use some reform. But at the same time, attention to the democratic institutions at the core of Hungary’s democracy, well, that’s something that we watch very carefully, we’re very concerned and we’re very interested in.

So, as we presented our concerns, they were fairly narrow, we only brought up issues that tipped over the top into this area of Hungary’s democratic institutions and checks and balances. And we thought that there would be a very serious consideration of that and that they would be addressed. So the fact that we got to December and frankly, the concerns really were not addressed at all, is very, very disappointing for us.

Question: Of course we are democratic countries and we have limited means in terms of interfering; we don’t want to interfere in each other’s businesses and it’s obvious that the United States doesn’t want to do it either. But according to some Hungarian media sources, the State Department is so dissatisfied with the Hungarian government that they want to pressure Hungary and the Hungarian government to eliminate the current government and to have a government of experts.

Ambassador Kounalakis: I saw this morning on the Internet that there was a report suggesting that that was somehow U.S. foreign policy. But I can tell you absolutely clearly that is not U.S. foreign policy, that is not our position and those reports are untrue.

Question: Anyway, according to some sources for example one of your predecessors, Mr. Mark Palmer said that Hungary is more and more internationally isolated and Professor Charles Gati said for example that Hungary has no allies any more. This is probably [going] too far, Hungary does have allies, but probably Hungary doesn’t have any friends. What do you think?

Ambassador Kounalakis: Well, those may be their personal opinions but I can tell you – Hungary has friends. The United States is a friend of Hungary. We have a long relationship. This summer we celebrated the trans-Atlantic relationship, we celebrated Ronald Reagan and throughout the celebration of Ronald Reagan we were constantly reminded of the heroism of the protestors in 1956. And these things connect us. And we won’t let go. But I really need to be clear about this because there has been some discussion about what exactly is our role in engagement.

The laws of this country are up to Hungarians to decide. But when you’re talking about these massive reforms and certain areas where elements of Hungarian democracy could be impacted, then this is what we do. This is what the United States does. We voice our opinions. And we’ll continue to voice those opinions. And very specifically, they do relate to checks and balances, and the independence of important democratic institutions, like a free media, like an independent judiciary, and like an independent central bank.

Question: It is obvious that you are very polite when you raise some criticism, but according to some sources something else is going on when you meet Hungarian state officials behind closed doors. Everybody knows that you regularly meet our Prime Minister, Mr. Viktor Orbán, and according to some sources something else is happening then, you are much harsher behind closed doors.

Ambassador Kounalakis: I don’t think that that’s the case. I’m a businesswoman in my life so being sincere and clear is part of my upbringing , but we’ve been going into more detail behind closed doors and we’ve had vigorous discussions, debates, but what I think is important is that when issues of concern are raised, it’s not enough to respond that we "don’t understand," because we do understand.

I also think it’s important that we have always addressed members of this government with respect, because it was elected with a two-third super majority. We respect the will of the Hungarian people and we respect the leadership. But that doesn’t mean that we can ever back down on these fundamental principles which include the independence of these institutions and adequate check and balances.

Question: In the history of Hungarian-American relations, especially after the change of regime, what happened in the past half year was absolutely unusual, as we put it earlier, so the letter by Hillary Clinton, demarche, and your publications. How often is it that you raise your criticism, raise your voice this way in terms of your allies?

Ambassador Kounalakis: As you mentioned at the beginning, these are very unique topics here and the concerns that we have raised have been raised by many other countries who care about Hungary and truly want to see a strong democracy here in the center of Europe. Sometimes I think Hungarians don’t see this country the way we do. This is a successful transition from an autocratic regime during Communism to a free country.

Oftentimes when I’m talking to my friends and colleagues here they point out the things that didn’t work. But many things have worked in this transition. And so as the United States engages outside in the world we want a strong Hungary engaging with us. Hungary served as the protective power for the United States in Libya. This was an enormous step in our trans-Atlantic relationship that was very important and very helpful to the United States at a critical time. So this relationship matters to us.

We are here to try to be helpful, but we have these concerns and frankly it has been a very disappointing last few weeks for us to see that our concerns were not incorporated. In particular, in several of the cardinal laws that were adopted at the end of the month, and it is very disappointing. But we won’t give up, we will continue to engage and we will continue to raise these concerns.

Question: Of course the hottest issue in the world is the economic crisis, and here, in Europe, the debt crisis. In the Hungarian media I have heard some voices which said that it is not in the interest of the United States to have a strong, an economically strong Europe as for example the Euro and the Dollar are rivaling currencies. What are your views on this?

Ambassador Kounalakis: The United States and Europe, Europe as a whole, are each other’s largest trading partners. It is absolutely in our interest to see the economies in Europe flourish. There’s just simply no question about that. So, we’ve been very encouraged by the steps that European leaders have taken, we believe that Europe has the capacity to be able to get through this crisis and we’re very encouraged that each of the countries will work together in order to be able to achieve this mutual goal of a strong Europe.

Question: You are a businesswoman, you come from that background. We all know that in Hungary we have several American business people. Not long ago you had an interview with CNBC where you said that businesses, international and especially American businesses are waiting to see what will happen. Since then unfortunately the situation has deteriorated. What would you advise businessmen what should they do?

Ambassador Kounalakis: Well, most businesses make their decisions, if we’re talking about foreign direct investment, they make their decisions based on predictability. What are my taxes going to be? What is the regulatory environment going to be? So the fact is that all of those things have been changing during this time of reform. Now I happen to believe that the environment will calm down. What we would like to see in the process is some of these concerns addressed in a meaningful way in order to be able to assure that predictability in the future.

Question: Obviously the debt crisis is prevalent not only in the European Union but in the United States as well. Can you see the political will to tackle this problem? So there has been so much strife between GOP and the Democratic Party so can you say that they will have to [come to a] deal finally?

Ambassador Kounalakis: There is a lot of discussion about the best way to tackle it. But I think that we’ve made some progress in that in our country. The fact is that once you have the debt you have to work out how you’re going to deal with it. Most of the options are not great. But there is a way forward. And finding a balance of approaches is possible. And I think that we’ll manage to work through it.

Question: This year will be very special for you Americans as you will have the presidential election. The Republicans have just launched their caucuses, so they are in the media all the time. Probably, it will be an advantage for them over President Obama, who is seeking to be re-elected. What do you think of this?

Ambassador Kounalakis: Most of us who are serving overseas feel far, far away from the elections back home. And this is our process in the United States. There will be very vibrant debates, everything across the spectrum will be said and, at the end of the day, the Americans will go to the polls and they will vote.

Question: But, according to CNN, I have just read a nice article which says that since the time of President Jimmy Carter the Republicans have the best chance to defeat and incumbent president. What do you think about this?

Ambassador Kounalakis: Actually since Jimmy Carter there haven’t really been that many elections so it’s pretty hard to base a statement on that. Look, American politics are transparent, open, they’re vibrant, they’re interesting. I think whether you’re American or even overseas it’s always interesting to watch how things go down. But I’m proud of our process and I think that usually it does result in the outcome that the American people want.

Question: Any predictions?

Ambassador Kounalakis: Well, look, you know I was very political in my previous life I’m a political appointee and I am very proud to work for President Obama.

Question: Recently, the world has been able to gain some sort of an insight into how American diplomacy works in the documents leaked by Wikileaks. For me these documents at the same time also mean that you do a very thorough job. So you are all over, you process all the information. What do you do in order to prevent such leaks in the future?

Ambassador Kounalakis: I can’t really speak specifically to the incident, but what I can tell you is that the United States engages around the world in a multitude of ways. On the one hand, we need to understand what’s happening in the world, we need to be talking to people in order to be able to formulate our foreign policy. But, we also need to continue always to enhance the strength of the relationship with our friends. And when you look at the relationship between the United States and Europe and European leaders during this administration, President Obama has been very clear. We want to see Europe, the countries in Europe, our friends and allies, be as strong as possible so that together we can tackle the challenges of the 21st century.

Question: When Mr. Obama became President a couple of years ago everybody expected that civil rights and minority rights will come to the forefront of American diplomacy. I think these issues are really relevant in Hungary and you have several projects for the Roma as well, and you have raised your voice against the extreme right in Hungary. What do you think of these phenomena? Some people say that if this current government fails, then will come an extreme right government.

Ambassador Kounalakis: That’s a very, very important point. And we grapple with these issues in and out, when economic times are good and when economic times are difficult. But we always have to keep our eye on them and do what we can do to strengthen our societies. I happen to believe that societies, communities are like a chain; they’re only as strong as the weakest link. And when you have a segment of your society that is struggling, that is going to impact all of society. But I also think that it’s really important to recognize that during the EU Presidency, a very successful EU Presidency, Hungary took a leadership role on the issue of the Roma, and for the first time was successful in seeing an EU wide Roma strategy adopted. Now that has led to individual countries adopting these strategies and no one is saying that it’s going to be easy. But there was really a leadership role that Hungary has played and I hope and believe it will continue to play on this issue.

Question: And what about the extreme right-wing?

Ambassador Kounalakis: Very troubling. You know it’s one of the issues that we talk about and that we think about quite often. And we, as Americans, firmly believe that having people with different beliefs, different religious beliefs, different ethnic backgrounds -- that is the strength of our union. And when you see some of these tensions, and I have to be perfectly honest, with the history where people have been persecuted so horribly for their ethnic differences, and you see that language creeping back again, it’s very, very disturbing. But this is now for the Hungarian people to work through; how do you recognize the past in such a way that will prevent that kind of thinking from coming back again.

Question: Now you have been in this position for exactly two years. Now, are you satisfied with what has happened in these two years and what are you going to focus on during the rest of your time?

Ambassador Kounalakis: The strength of the U.S.-Hungarian relationship has grown in many areas. During the course of my two years here I’ve had really tremendous cooperation with the Ministry of Defense. I travelled to Sarajevo and Kosovo and then to Afghanistan with Minister Hende, we visited Hungarian troops serving side by side with American troops, we have found new ways to improve efficiency by working together.

The United States has been able to support the military here with equipment, with training. We’re very proud of this relationship. And I can also tell you in law enforcement cooperation we also found great ways to cooperate. And this is not a one-way street. We have the ILEA, the FBI training center here, and Hungarians trained there, but primarily now, ten years after it was established, FBI trainers and Hungarian trainers are training mid-level police officers from the whole region.

So this is tremendous cooperation. Also, we have been asked and we provided best practices and expertise for anti-corruption measures that the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration has been very focused on. We’ve worked with the Ministry of the Interior on how to train police officers to deal in multi-cultural environments. So there has just been such a wide variety of areas where we have found new ways to cooperate; we’re very proud of it. And in general we have had really a very open dialogue.

I intend over my next year to continue to be working on these things, but I also really have to express my disappointment that in the area of our concerns over the democratic institutions we really had hoped that they would take those concerns and incorporate them more into their approach, and they didn’t. So this is disappointing to us but we will not give up, we will not stop, and we’ll continue to urge them to address those concerns.

Hungary is a hidden jewel here in Europe, and for so many years Western Europeans and Americans really couldn’t freely come to visit. During the time I have been here I have had waves of family and friends coming through and I’ve met with many people coming for the first time and everyone has such positive wonderful things to say about this country – the culture, the beauty of the country, the cities and the towns, food of course.

It’s really a very special place, and I have embraced my time living here thoroughly. I’ve been out hunting out in Lónya, boar hunting, I got my first boar, I’ve been dancing in the Hortobágy learning the Hungarian dances, and I even swam across Lake Balaton. So it’s really an exceptional place. And I’ve enjoyed living here and I really do expect that the next year will bring good things and we’ll work very closely to try to help in any way that we can."

Source: U.S. Embassy Budapest