Parliament’s foreign affairs committee meets new US ambassador

A four-party delegation of parliament’s foreign affairs committee met with David B. Cornstein, the new United States ambassador to Hungary, for a working lunch in Budapest on Monday.

Zsolt Németh, the head of the committee delegated by ruling Fidesz, said after the meeting that the United States’ filling the post of ambassador, vacant for 18 months, will “elevate diplomatic ties” between the two countries. He added that a change was “tangible” after a period in which the US embassy in Budapest was headed by a charge d’affaires.

Németh voiced support for the US position that NATO cannot be successful unless its members appropriately contribute to its operations. He added that Hungary has started a programme to raise its defence spending to an annual 2 percent of GDP.

Németh spoke highly of bilateral economic ties and noted that US companies in Hungary employed a total 100,000 people.