Hungary Visa Waivers and US Foreign Policy

4/7/2008 - American Hungarian Federation Raises Visa Waiver at America Abroad Media Town Hall Meeting: "Foreign Policy and the Presidential Election: America's Image in the World" (Washington, D.C.)  The American Hungarian Federation attended a special town hall discussion, presented by WAMU 88.5, America Abroad Media, and The American Interest magazine, and senior foreign policy advisors from the presidential campaigns of Senators Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama.  The participants discussed strategies for improving America’s standing abroad.

The 90-minute town hall discussion was moderated by Kojo Nnamdi of WAMU 88.5 and Marvin Kalb of America Abroad Media and was held at American University.

Foreign policy advisors from each of the presidential campaigns participated in the discussion:  Richard Danzig, Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign; Lee Feinstein, National Security Director for Senator Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign; and John Lehman, Foreign and Defense Policy Advisor to Senator John McCain's presidential campaign.

The live event took place on Monday, April 7 and was subsequently broadcast on Thursday, April 9.

Frank Koszorus, Jr., Chairman of the Federation’s International Relations Committee, represented the organization and asked the foreign policy advisors about the visa waiver program.  He prefaced his question by stating that failure to extend visa free travel to citizens of our new allies and friends in Central Europe has needlessly given us a black eye at a time the United States needs staunch friends.

Lehman and Feinstein responded. According to Lehman, Senator McCain supports granting of visas for education, but views visa waiver separately.  While supporting visa waiver, Lehman placed considerable emphasis on the need for strong security measures. He cautioned that if the new allies do not have the same security safeguards as the U.S. does, visa free travel could provide an open window for terrorists.

Feinstein disagreed, noting that with proper precautions visa waiver is not an open window.  He stressed that it is essential as well as an obligation to grant our new allies visa free travel.  That policy should be a top priority.

“It’s important to stay engaged on this significant issue and not just react to developments,” noted Koszorus after the event. “The Federation has raised visa waiver in various fora and will continue to participate in the debate surrounding this issue,” he added.  

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April 7, 2008: "Foreign Policy and the Presidential Election: America's Image in the World," America Abroad Media, WAMU 88.5 and The American Interest Magazine present a special town hall event at American University's Kay Spiritual Center.

Listen to the Brodcast!

	Discussion between hosts and panelists (24 minutes)
	Q & A with audience and panelists (28 minutes)

Panelists:

Richard Danzig, Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Mr. Danzig served as Navy Secretary in the Clinton administration and has held a number of positions within the Department of Defense, for which he was awarded the Defense Distinguished Public Service Award, the department’s highest civilian award. Mr. Danzig serves as a biological terrorism consultant to several government agencies and is also the Nunn Prize Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a director and senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

Lee Feinstein, National Security Director for Senator Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. An international lawyer, Mr. Feinstein was a Senior Fellow for foreign policy and international law at the Council on Foreign Relations and a Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Kerry for President Campaign. He served in senior positions at the Defense and State departments during the Clinton administration, including as the Principal Deputy Director of the Policy Planning Staff under Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Mr. Feinstein has written widely on U.S. foreign policy, and is a frequent commentator for the media.

John Lehman, Foreign and Defense Policy Advisor to Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign. Dr. Lehman served as Navy Secretary under President Ronald Reagan, as a staff member to Dr. Henry Kissinger on the National Security Council, and more recently as a member of the 9/11 Commission. He has also acted as a delegate to the Force Reductions Negotiations in Vienna and as Deputy Director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Currently, Dr. Lehman is Chairman of J.F. Lehman & Company, a private equity investment firm.

Related Articles

3/28/2008 - Washington Times publishes AHF Letter to the Editor: "America and its Eastern European allies

Helle Dale rightly asserts that waiving visa requirements for our allies in Central and Eastern Europe is indispensable ("Building strategic relationships," Op-Ed, Wednesday). The visa-waiver program is a building block in the security structure of the region.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the restoration of sovereignty to the nations of Eastern Europe validated Western values. It soon became apparent, however, that Russia had not reconciled its loss of empire and would seek to influence the region, although less directly than by dispatching tanks as it had done during the Cold War.

Quickly reintegrating Central and Eastern Europe into Western institutions, and thereby strengthening democracy, was the best means to advance both the geostrategic interests of the United States and the aspirations of the nations of the region. The prescience of the United States in enlarging NATO to include the former Soviet satellites and the Baltic countries became apparent as Russia began to aggressively assert itself.

In order to prevent any backsliding, the United States must continue to exercise leadership by remaining fully engaged in the region. Relatively simple steps taken to further this engagement will pay handsome dividends. These include reaching out not only to governments and the former ruling nomenklatura, but also to the people of the region, especially those who at great sacrifice helped topple the Communist regimes.

Extending the visa-waiver program to the citizens of our new allies, including Hungarians, is a critical way of shoring up their friendship toward the United States and reversing a growing cynicism caused by a feeling that America is ignoring them after the initial euphoria following the fall of the Berlin Wall. The United States needs genuine and staunch friends. Visa waiver extends the hand of friendship to our new allies." - FRANK KOSZORUS JR.
Co-president, AHF
[Link to Article]

3/24/2008 - Hungary and the United States Sign Visa Waiver AgreementOn Monday, March 17, 2008, Hungary, Slovakia and Lithuania signed a Visa Waiver Program memorandum of understanding with the United States.  This agreement is intended to pave the way to help the three countries qualify for visa waiver free travel to the United States later this year. Hungary has become the latest former Soviet-bloc EU member to sign a deal to secure its citizens visa-free travel to the United States, the MTI news agency reported Friday. [read more]

6/14/2007 - Enduring Strains of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe: A distinguished panel of experts convened by Hudson’s Center for European Studies offered their perspectives. [more]

3/29/2004 - Supporting NATO Expansion and Minority Rights... AHF 1st Vice President Frank Koszorus and the Hungarian American Coalition's representative to the Central and East European Coalition (CEEC) joins US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld  and gives speech on NATO expansion on Capitol Hill re-iterating concerns over protection of Hungarians and other minorities in Rumania and the Carpathian Basin.

Two events took place in Washington, D.C. related to the latest round of NATO’s enlargement – a White House ceremony and a gala reception. AHF 1st Vice President Frank Koszorus, Jr. attended both events along with other Hungarian American leaders. [more]

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