Hungary on Saturday blasted the US envoy for what he labelled as a “leftist activist” speech “not worthy of an ambassador.” In a statement, State Secretary at Budapest’s foreign ministry Tamas Menczer slammed the US ambassador to Hungary David Pressman for the controversial speech that he delivered on Thursday at the Central European University (CEU) at an event that commented 25th anniversary of Hungary’s accession to NATO bloc, according to RT.

Budapest now ‘increasingly isolated’ from the NATO 

The US envoy grieved the issues that worsened the ties between Washington and Budapest including Hungarian leader Viktor Orban’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Pressman stated that Budapest was now “increasingly isolated” from the NATO “community of democracies,” the paper reported. He added that ties between the US and Hungary must not depend on the leaders of the two countries, who he said are “temporary.”

“We should be mutually concerned for the well-being of democratic values, institutions, and of our relationship – regardless of who has the privilege of temporarily leading either of our governments,” the US envoy said during the controversial speech. The envoy also criticised the Hungarian Prime Minister Orban as an “adversary” whose government interfered “in a very blatant way” in affairs of other countries “all while decrying foreign interference here at home.”

“PM Orban, who on the one hand baselessly claims the US government is trying to overthrow his government, publicly calls for the political defeat of the President of the United States and actively participates in US partisan political events,” Pressman said, as per RT. The latter added that while Hungarian government “wants to wait out the United States government, the United States will certainly not wait out the Orban administration.” Pressman threatened, “While Hungary waits, we will act.” Budapest’s foreign ministry reiterated that the ties between two nations are based on “mutual respect.” Hungary has always had great respect for the United States, and it always will. However, today’s speech was not a speech worthy of an ambassador, but rather a speech by a leftist political activist,” Menczer said.