Yesterday, Deputy State Secretary Ferenc Kumin met with Andrew Srulevitch, director of European Affairs at the Anti-Defamation League in New York, and conveyed to him in person the Government of Hungary's strong condemnation of the statement made in Parliament by Jobbik MP Márton Gyöngyösi.

The Government of Hungary does not hesitate to identify these outrages for what they are, malicious acts contrary to European and Hungarian values, the Deputy State Secretary emphasised.

Mr. Srulevitch told Deputy State Secretary Kumin that ADL appreciates the Hungarian Government's statement and appreciates that the Government is quick to categorically condemn malicious remarks like these. The parties talked at length about the political situation in Hungary, and the Hungarian Deputy State Secretary underlined that the far right in Hungary, while winning enough votes to get into Parliament during the last elections, fuelled by economic hardship and voter discontent, fortunately it seems to have failed to grow in popularity. He also said that even though, sadly extremism exists, in Hungary as in other European countries, but it is not representative of Hungarian values.

The parties also exchanged ideas on what additional steps could be taken to push back such malice and make these extremist voices accountable, to which Mr. Srulevitch offered a number of constructive ideas. Deputy State Secretary Kumin stated that the meeting was conducted in a friendly atmosphere and added that  Mr. Srulevitch is ready to help the Government with its efforts to drive back extremist ideologies.

During Wednesday Deputy State Secretary Ferenc Kumin and Ambassador György Szapáry met with Wolf Blitzer, American journalist and television news anchor, currently host of CNN’s The Situation Room show.

(Prime Minister’s Office)