Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjarto responded to Biden's remarks, saying they have no basis in reality.
While speaking at a town hall event aired by the US broadcaster ABC on Thursday night, Joe Biden maligned President Trump’s foreign policy, falsely accusing him of cozying up to thuggish political leaders around the world. The 77-year-old Democrat then classified Hungary and Poland as "totalitarian regimes” alongside Belarus.
When asked by an audience member whether President Trump’s foreign policy deserves some credit for inspiring peace talks between the Arabs and Israelis as well as between the Serbians and Kosovars, Biden argued that Trump’s policy’s abroad had mostly failed.
“You have Iran closer to having enough nuclear material to build a bomb. North Korea has more bombs and missiles available to it. We find ourselves where our NATO allies are publicly saying they can't count on us,” Biden said. Biden went on to say, "You see what's happened in everything from Belarus to Poland to Hungary, and the rise of totalitarian regimes in the world, and as well, this president embraces all the thugs in the world.”
Following Biden’s factually incorrect remarks, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjarto on Friday took to social media, writing: “The relationship between Hungary and the United States has never been as good as it is now. The President of the United States and the Hungarian Prime Minister take similar views on illegal immigration, border protection, security, supporting families, and protecting Christian communities.”
“Obviously, this is why the Democratic challenger involved Hungary in the presidential campaign. As far as the specific content of the statement is concerned, it has nothing to do with reality.”
Zoltán Kovács, Hungary’s Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Relations, also took to social media to push back against Biden’s slanderous comments, writing: “Hungary under the Orbán Government has been one of the US’s staunchest allies in NATO. So, this is what we can expect from the Democrats if they win the election? More condescension and lecturing?” (...)
“It would be great if Joe Biden could tell us why he put pressure on the Ukrainian government to fire its chief prosecutor, and how all of this related to the investigation into his son’s Ukrainian energy deals grinding to a halt,” Foreign Minister Szijjártó said in response to Joe Biden’s comment. (...)
Last month, Biden also falsely claimed there are "LGBT-free zones" in Poland, with his statement also being met with outrage from the Polish government and the media.
Sources: rmx.news, abouthungary.hu, photo credit: ABC News