Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó presented the State Department’s former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell with the Commander’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit in Washington on Wednesday, in recognition of his outstanding efforts in the interests of developing Hungarian-American relations.

In his presentation speech, Mr. Szijjártó, who is in Washington attending the 70th jubilee meeting of NATO foreign ministers, stressed: “After Wess Mitchell took over the direction of European and Eurasian affairs at the State Department, Washington once again regarded Central Europe as an ally”. “This was a radical change”, Mr. Szijjártó said, adding that a new chapter has opened in relations with the United States. “We feel like partners, and no longer like students who need to be taught a lesson”, he underlined.

Following Wess Mitchell’s arrival, relations between the two countries were characterised by two “magic words”, and these two words are “mutual respect”, the Minister said. As one of the merits of the former Assistant Secretary of State, he mentioned the fact that following an interval of seven-and-a-half years, a U.S. Secretary of State had visited Hungary in the person of Mike Pompeo.

“Politics, the economy and defence, these are the three pillars of Hungarian-American relations”,  Mr. Szijjártó said, adding that although Hungarian-American defence and economic relations had already been satisfactory, “our political relations in effect did not exist prior to Wess Mitchell”.

Mr. Szijjártó also spoke about an issue that he characterised as “sensitive”: Ukraine. He emphasised that when the two parties discussed Ukraine, which the United States views from a totally different angle than Hungary, Wess Mitchell had understood that the Hungarians cannot assess the situation in Ukraine from a purely geopolitical perspective. “To us, the Hungarians, the situation of minorities is an extremely important issue”, the Minister underlined.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade expressed his satisfaction with the fact that the current U.S. administration understands the politics of the Hungarian Government: it wants to preserve Christian values, regards the issue of security as paramount, and is patriotic. “Just as you say America comes first, we say that to us, Hungary comes first”, he stressed, referring to the fact that the two countries’ politics is similar in many regards.

He also mentioned that Hungary had never joined the chorus of European countries who criticise the United States. “We have always kept our distance from this and have attempted to approach things fairly”, he underlined.

In his response, Wess Mitchell explained, amongst others, that he regards the award as a great honour. He said there is some Texan blood in his veins, and finds there are many similarities between the Hungarians and the people of Texas. Both peoples passionately love their independence, and like spicy foods and horses. “The Hungarians and Americans are linked by their love of freedom”, he stated.

Mr. Mitchell also recalled the Hungarian links to U.S. history, including the role played by Hungarians in the American War of Independence, and the Hungarian immigrants who arrived in America after 1848, 1956 or 1989. The former Assistant Secretary of State highlighted: during his work at the State Department, he regarded it as a unique opportunity to facilitate active diplomacy in the interests of Central Europe, and particularly Hungary.

On Wednesday in Washington, Mr. Szijjártó held bilateral talks with Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani, and received the representatives of several major U.S. corporations within the framework of an American-Hungarian Business Forum roundtable discussion.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)