On June 12, Foreign Minister János Martonyi received Tomicah Tillemann, the grandson of late Congressman Tom Lantos, who serves as the Senior Advisor for Civil Society and Emerging Democracies to Secretary of State John Kerry. Mr. Tillemann was invited to Budapest by the Tom Lantos Institute to hold the first of a series of public lectures focusing on human rights.

János Martonyi and Tomicah Tillemann discussed the activities of the Tom Lantos Institute and agreed that the Institute should further focus on minority and human rights issues. The Tom Lantos Institute will be hosting an international conference entitled „Jewish Life and Anti-Semitism in Contemporary Europe” in the building of the Hungarian Parliament on October 1-2. The Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is ready to provide all support necessary to ensure the success of the conference.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister informed his guest that – as a result of the dialogue with the European Commission – the Hungarian government had decided to amend the Constitution again. Tomicah Tillemann greatly appreciated the briefing and expressed his view that the passing of the proposed amendment by the Hungarian Parliament would be a major step forward.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)