Politico: US sanctions Hungary over pro-Russian policies

The US on Tuesday severely restricted Hungary’s participation in its visa waiver program over security concerns about new passports issued between 2011 and 2020, Politico.eu reports.

Under the US visa waiver program, citizens of participating countries can travel to the US for tourism or business for up to 90 days without a visa and simply need the so-called Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).

As of Tuesday, however, the validity of ESTA for Hungarian passport holders will be reduced from two to one year and ESTA will be valid for single use only.

This unprecedented move in response to security concerns affects Hungary as the only one of the 40 countries participating in the US programme, they wrote.

After coming to power in 2010, the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán implemented a major policy change granting citizenship to ethnic Hungarians abroad – including Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine. Domestic critics say Orbán’s controversial move is aimed at improving his electoral chances.

David Pressman, the US ambassador in Budapest, told POLITICO in an interview before the publication, “The Hungarian government has issued hundreds of thousands of passports as part of a simplified naturalization program without strict identity verification mechanisms. .”

The U.S. government has engaged the Hungarian government over several years on this “security vulnerability” in several administrations, Pressman said. But “the Hungarian government decided not to close it.”

“This is indeed an unfortunate day,” Pressman said. “This is not the result that the US wanted or sought.”

Washington’s move comes at a time when Hungary’s relations with its Western partners are at a low point.

Budapest’s NATO allies are deeply disappointed that the Hungarian Parliament has not yet ratified Sweden’s candidacy to join the alliance.

There is also continuing concern about senior Hungarian officials promoting the Kremlin narrative, as well as about efforts to ease European sanctions against Moscow. Earlier this year, the US imposed sanctions against a Hungarian-based bank with links to Russia.

A number of Western countries have spoken out about the deteriorating democratic standards in Hungary, as well as policies and rhetoric that they believe undermine the rights of LGBTQ+ people there.

Pressman pointed out that US experts had previously identified ways to address security concerns.

In 2017, the US declared the status of the visa waiver program for Hungary to be temporary, and security concerns were also behind the decision to make foreign-born Hungarians ineligible from 2020.

Now, all Hungarian passport holders will be affected.

“It is a matter of choice,” said the ambassador.

“The Hungarian government has so far chosen not to address this security concern, which is why the US has responded.”