Ambassador
András Simonyi today presented the
Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, Commander Cross, to Amb. Nicholas
Salgo, former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, at his hometown in Key Largo, FL.
At the initiative of the Prime Minister of Hungary, Mr. Péter Medgyessy,
President Ferenc Mádl awarded the decoration to Ambassador Salgo.
Amb.
Salgo was U.S. Ambassador to Hungary between 1983 and 1986. He supported Hungarian higher education by
establishing a guest professorship at the then English Language and
Literature Department of Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. Amb. Salgo
himself is an alumnus of the same university, from where he graduated in 1937.
Amb. Salgo had named the professorship after his father, Mr. Otto Salgo. For 17 years
- between 1983 and 2001 - numerous American professors, linguists, historians, political and
cultural scientists were invited as part of the professorship to lecture in Budapest.
Amb.
Salgo also encouraged and helped Hungary to establish direct relations with Western democracies. The Reagan Administration considered the establishment
of a special relationship with Hungary as a priority.
Mr. László
Kovács, Foreign Minister of Hungary called Ambassador Salgo today and
congratulated him on receiving the Order of Merit.
