Hungarian News

Szijjártó’s Black List

• February 19, 2022
• István
• 2 Comments

Everybody expecting that our foreign minister could be a decent man, able to act according to diplomatic customs, has been proven being wrong since long. Just now he proved again how much he is going forward into the wrong direction. He will blacklist ambassadors if their behaviour could make fraud attempts during the elections more difficult.

In democratic states it is standard to observe elections intensively. The most observers are those from electoral commissions, parties, civil organisations, and volunteers, while in Hungary only the 1st 2 mentioned are allowed, the latter 2 not. OSCE sends a regularly a small delegation, but also other countries have a look how things are handled. OSCE will send a full mission instead, since they are convinced that the electoral system in Hungary is so badly shaped that a closer look is needed. Staff of embassies, but also ambassadors, will have a look and report to their own governments how things are handled. Since in democracies nobody is afraid of observers the most visits of ambassadors get – if at all – a small notice in the press, it is more the contact to the electorate of the foreign country than an attempt to assure that things are going the democratic way.

Now the Hungarian foreign minister Szijjártó attacked the ambassadors in Hungary. He decided that observation of elections would be an illegal interference, influencing the results of the elections. Ambassadors who dare to take a look in the polling stations will be blacklisted and excluded from access to high placed ruling staff. Since ambassadors are the direct link between the governments of 2 countries this would mean factual freezing diplomatic relations on a lower level.

On government founded and financed Megafon Központ Szijjártó declared ►HU that Hungary will experience a heavy foreign influence on the elections. The ECJ did so by right now announcing the conviction of Hungary [again: Rejection of Orbán’s complaint, not conviction,] 1st time ever directly broadcasted. Stupid foreigners, unable to understand the Hungarian language, wrote down phonetically what some think tank or whatever told to report about abroad. “I read the last days something that got much attention on social media, that I would have gently threatened the ambassadors. I did not gently threaten them, but told them in a pretty hard way what we expect.” [Laughter and applause for breaching all diplomatic conventions.] We are still a sovereign country and they just represent another country here. I definitely would dismiss an ambassador who in another country would say his opinion about an internal affair of that country. For the observation of elections there are the appropriate international methods. “I with my own hand signed the invitation for the OSCE mission to observe the elections, because this is their duty.” He made the larger mission a bit ridiculous and sad that it is not the duty of an ambassador or employee of an embassy to go through the country and to tell what is good and what is not good, they just have to represent their own countries. Of course he said that ambassadors who keep themselves busy with the elections would be excluded from access to the government, but limited to access to heads of departments within ministries instead. “We are Hungarians and not morons. If someone regards Hungary as punching bag he needs to slap on several times every morning because he has no better work …. it is the end, this is the end.” As member of a 1000-year-old christian nation he would not go to the Netherlands, Belgium, France, he doesn’t know, Sweden meddling in internal affairs.

According to press information Szijjártó used the word black list. A decades-serving diplomat said that this step would be without example. Azonnali reported ►HU that the brutal request did not have the needed impact and embassies still plan to follow the tradition in observing the elections.

This was not the 1st time Szijjártó told stories about meddling of foreign countries in the elections. On CNN he claimed already last year that the USA would try to change the results of the elections, just to tell a short time later that he never did so. Now a step one would expect from perfect democracies as Syria. Might it be that some foreign minister with way too much spending for his income is shitting his pants? Afraid of getting fired by the voters and thereafter not only blacklisted, but jailed as well?