Foreign ministry state secretary Levente Magyar told a press conference on Wednesday that Kostelancik’s comments were seen as “interference” with Hungary’s domestic affairs. “Hungary, a sovereign state, protests that any country should interfere with its upcoming parliamentary election like that,” Magyar said.

During consultations at the foreign ministry on Wednesday morning the US diplomat was told that such comments were detrimental to bilateral ties and he was asked to forbear from similar statements in future, Magyar said.

He added that Hungary was striving to build “the most constructive” cooperation with the US, but such statements could “make our work extremely difficult”.

He said that “Americans should not only refrain from making false claims but from making any comments at all on developments in Hungary.”

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.