Hungarian FM summons US ambassador over Biden’s remarks about Orbán

"Hungary doesn't have to tolerate lies, even from the President of the United States, which is why the government has summoned the US Ambassador following the statements made by US President Joe Biden last week about Prime Minister Viktor Orbán," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

At a press conference, Péter Szijjártó was asked what he thought about US President Joe Biden's comment according to which the Hungarian Prime Minister had "clearly stated that he doesn't think democracy works". According to Szijjártó, "we don't have to put up with such lies from anyone, even if that person is the President of the United States of America".

The US embassy said in a statement that the Foreign Ministry had summoned the ambassador for an "urgent" meeting on Tuesday morning over the US president's remarks about Hungary.

“Ambassador Pressman always welcomes opportunities to discuss the state of Hungarian democracy with our ally.”

– they wrote. The ambassador was received by Deputy Minister Levente Magyar, who asked Pressman to produce the quote with the place and time where the prime minister had said it. According to Szijjártó, they received no substantive reply, since no such statement had been made. He added that "bilateral relations are made more difficult by the ambassador's statement that the official US position is that "here in Hungary we are building a dictatorship, which is not an insult to the government, but to the country".

Speaking at campaign event in Pennsylvania last weekend, the American President strongly criticised Trump's meeting with the Hungarian Prime Minister. Biden said that the meeting demonstrated that the November presidential elections are about freedom and democracy.