Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó said he called US Ambassador David Pressman to the ministry because of US President Joe Biden’s remarks about Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, which extremely complicate bilateral relations.
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Earlier, Biden, commenting on Orban’s meeting with former US President Donald Trump in Florida, said that the Hungarian prime minister allegedly “doesn’t think democracy works and is looking for dictatorship.” Orbán responded by saying that the accuracy of President Biden’s statements should not be overestimated.
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“We are not obliged to listen to such lies from anyone, even if it is the US president. After these lies were told against the Hungarian prime minister, we summoned the US ambassador, who was here today, to the ministry,” Szijjártó said at a press conference.
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The minister said that the US ambassador was received by his deputy, the diplomat was asked to provide precise information about when and where the Hungarian prime minister uttered the words that the American president attributes to him.
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“Obviously, such a statement was not made, so we could not get any reasonable answer,” Szijjártó said.
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“The ambassador’s statement that this is the official position of America, that we are building a dictatorship here in Hungary, extremely complicates bilateral relations. It insults not the government or the prime minister, but the country,” he added.
