Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács and György Bakondi Chief Security Advisor to the Prime Minister are conducting negotiations in Washington.

In a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI, Mr. Kovács said that during their three-day visit he and Mr. Bakondi are holding talks with politicians, legislators and political analysts from the U.S. Government, and meeting members of the American press.

The visit is part of a series of six-monthly trips during which the Government Spokesperson informs professional organisations and members of the press with regard to Hungary’s standpoint on various issues. The main topics of discussion on this occasion are security and illegal migration.

Zoltán Kovács and György Bakondi visited the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), where they were primarily informed with relation to crisis communication techniques. Talks at the Ministry of Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Centre in Washington centred on terrorism.

According to the statement issued by Mr. Kovács, Hungary’s concerns with relation to illegal migration and the measures it has introduced to protect its borders are appreciated and understood everywhere. “The Americans are justifiably concerned that terrorists who get into Europe could access American visa programmes”, he said, adding: “The Americans not only understand Hungary’s measures to combat illegal migration, they have also assured us of their support”.

The Government Spokesperson and Mr. Bakondi met with American legislators, including Republican Congressmen Dennis Ross from Florida and Andy Harris from Maryland, and with Republican Congressman Devin Nunes, who is a highly influential member of the House of Representatives.  They also visited several important research centres including the Heritage Foundation and the Institute of World Politics, which puts forward novel opinions and advice with regard to many issues, and the Congressional Research Service, which provides background information and analyses to American legislators. “We not only discussed security policy issues and illegal migration at these meetings, but also the undisputed achievements of the Hungarian economy and the success of the Hungarian model, as well as cooperation within the framework of the Visegrád Group (V4)”, Mr. Kovács told the press.

“Central Europe is a region with which the United States maintains a strategic partnership”, the Government Spokesperson pointed out, adding that “All four countries of the Visegrád Group have a positive view with relation to current U.S. politics”.

“V4 cooperation is proof of the fact that it is possible to cooperate within a member state framework and to reinforce European cooperation as a result”, Mr. Kovács underlined.

He also spoke about the fact that the V4 is performing better than Europe economically, and in many respects is conforming to EU requirements to a greater extent than certain Western European member states. The Government Spokesperson called the Central European region the economic engine of Europe. He also indicated that his American negotiating partners had expressed their recognition with regard to the successes of the Hungarian economy.

(MTI)