DAS Hartley discussed foreign policy issues of mutual interest and current political developments in Hungary with Prime Minister's Office State Secretary Peter Szijjarto, Foreign Ministry State Secretary Zsolt Nemeth, Public Administration and Justice Ministry State Secretary Robert Repassy, and Socialist Party President Attila Mesterhazy. He also met with members of the Hungarian parliament and civil society. He reviewed our close cooperation through NATO in Afghanistan and the Balkans and elsewhere. He also raised ongoing concerns about checks and balances in the judicial system and media plurality and expressed support for the government's consultations with the Council of Europe, the Venice Commission and the European Commission.

DAS Hartley also discussed recent incidents of anti-Semitism in Hungary, including the comments made by a Jobbik MP in Parliament. He expressed appreciation for the government's response and condemnation of those remarks and emphasized the importance of political leaders and the highest-ranking government officials clearly and unequivocally condemning hatred directed at religious or ethnic minority groups.

Source: U.S. Embassy Budapest