January 22, 2009

Hungarian Foreign Minister Welcomes New U.S. Secretary of State

Statement by the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

On January 20 2009, Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America and Hillary Rodham Clinton took office as U.S. Secretary of State. 

On this occasion, Minister for Foreign Affairs Kinga Göncz sent a letter to Secretary Clinton welcoming her new American counterpart. In her letter, Minister Göncz reaffirmed her commitment to developing U.S.-Hungarian relations and identified the most important areas where Hungary would like to count on the co-operation of the new leader of the U.S. diplomacy. Minister Göncz referred to the commonly shared values, joint efforts in promoting human rights and democracy and the most important challenges that Europe and the world face in the 21st century.

Minister Kinga Göncz addressed a letter to Condoleezza Rice, as well, thanking for her contribution to developing U.S.-Hungarian relations, emphasising among other things the successes of Hungarian-U.S. joint endeavours in democracy promotion and the decision to include Hungary in the U.S. Visa Waver Program thus opening a new chapter in our bilateral relations.