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Even if Hungarian-American relations appeared to have been resolved during the Trump era, the conflict between the two countries could ensue long before Joe Biden was elected. In summary, this follows from the responses Index received from the State Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade and the US Embassy in Budapest after asking the parties about the so-called Clean 5G Network program.
In August, Washington launched an international campaign called The Clean Network, which would ensure the security of 5G networks beyond the borders of the United States. Since then, the Secretary of State in the outgoing Trump administration, Mike Pompeo, has lined up a series of arguments in favor of the program; the most striking are the statements attacking the Chinese government and the telecommunications giant Huawei. The US government believes that if Chinese telecommunications companies also participate in building the 5G telecommunications infrastructure of an allied country, it will compromise not only its own communications system, but the entire communications system of the Western world.
According to them, Chinese multis like Huawei 5G use their devices to access the information that flows on the network and then pass it on to the Beijing government.
In any case, the truth is that the Clean 5G Network program has become one of the fronts of the Cold War between Washington and Beijing and goes far beyond the security problem of telecommunications infrastructure.
If the US and its allies are pushed out of the market, not only will Western companies suffer huge financial losses, they will also be left behind in technological competition. All of this can be crucial in the great geopolitical game of chess, so strategic interests also depend on the success of the American program.
US allies have also joined the ranks, and the US embassy response to our document states that so far, forty countries and fifty telcos have joined the Clean 5G Network program.
These include twenty-seven NATO members and several market-leading companies that reject the intelligence tools used by the Chinese Communist Party’s observatory.
– says the embassy.
However, despite the sound of war, Hungary was left out of the Clean 5G network program. However, the United States is not ashamed: if it wants to assert its interests, the American Embassy will convince the Hungarian government with a communication offensive. Content supporting the program was also posted on the mission-funded Western-funded Facebook page and on the Free Europe news portal, also maintained by Washington.
On mfor.hu and Response Online, the dangers of the “Chinese Communist Party observer state” were warned in the form of a paid advertisement.
It is not in recent weeks that the United States has begun to soften the Hungarian government. In April of last year, a private event was held at the National Civil Service University, and a prominent American diplomat made it clear by then:
The activities of Chinese 5G companies are monitored from Washington, and even an ally that goes against US interests can expect a sanction.
Like a white island
Chancellor Mike Pompeo presented the results of the Clean 5G Network program so far at a press conference in October, sending a difficult message to the Hungarian government. The charts presented in the presentation, showing the European countries that have joined the program, have also been posted on the Washington Foreign Affairs website. Hungary, like an island, glows white on the map and the arrow points to neighboring Slovenia from the empty part of Hungary:
Source: Department of State, https://www.state.gov/the-transatlantic-alliance-goes-clean/
By the way, Huawei opened another office in Hungary just a month ago, in addition to the outrage of the American embassy. In addition to the burgeoning relationship with China, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó, listed several economic interests. He said, for example: in the last ten years, five billion dollars of Chinese investment has come to the country, and companies here in the Far East employ 15,000 Hungarian workers.
However, we also wanted to know what other interests the government is deciding on the sensitive issue and whether Washington has an offer beyond pressure. However, we did not receive an answer to these questions, and the Ministry of the Environment responded to our letter only briefly: Hungary offers an open and fair environment for law-abiding foreign investors,
„the decision on whether to join the Clean Network initiative will be made solely in line with Hungarian interests″.
Book cover: Index Photographer: Trenka Attila
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