US ambassador’s views on Hungary ‘irrelevant,’ minister says

By JUSTIN SPIKE
Associated Press

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s foreign minister says what the United States ambassador to Budapest thinks about Hungarian policies is “completely irrelevant,” and that the ambassador should stop interfering in Hungary’s internal affairs. Speaking at a news conference Thursday in the capital Budapest, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto lashed out at comments made in Politico this week by U.S. Ambassador David Pressman. Pressman referred to Hungary’s approach to the war in neighboring Ukraine as pushing “policies endorsed by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin.” Szijjarto sharply criticized the comments, saying Hungary’s domestic political process has “nothing to do with him.” The comments were the latest sign of a growing diplomatic rift between the U.S. and the Central European country.