Index – National – Diplomatic passport, what is it?

On Thursday we wrote that one of the former members of the MSZP, Zsolt Legény, wanted to smuggle cigarettes at the border with Ukraine with a diplomatic passport. The politician with a law degree was a deputy for the Socialists until 2014, since then he has been vice president of the party branch of the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg party, but after resigning the case, he resigned and resigned from the MSZP.

Tamás Menczer, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Trade, wrote in his Facebook post that the MSZP had applied for Zsolt Legény’s diplomatic passport at the Foreign Ministry. The Socialists claimed that he was helping the party’s foreign relations as an expert.

We do not consider the diplomatic passport to be a political issue, so we comply with the request.

Of course, yesterday the passport was revoked with immediate effect.

Menczer wrote in his post.

Team Captain Judas and Others

News about diplomatic passports appear in the press from time to time.

Balázs Dzsudzsák revealed himself in May this year when he returned home from the United Arab Emirates to receive a diplomatic passport. On June 23, Levente Magyar, Parliamentary Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, explained to Ágnes Vadai, deputy of the Democratic Coalition:

Balázs Dzsudzsák is the captain of the Hungarian national soccer team, and yes, he is worthy and worthy of a diplomatic passport.

“On what basis do businessmen and athletes receive a diplomatic passport?” This written question was asked by Jobbik MP Brenner Koloman, to whom Levente Magyar replied on June 24:

Hungarian businessmen and athletes received diplomatic passports for their successful work and participation.

Also in May of this year, Magyar Hang wrote about the fact that András Lénárd, the head of the company that makes Csíki Forbidden Beer, also received a diplomatic passport from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. To the question of the weekly, who to send, when and why the travel document was issued to the contractor, they received this answer:

For the issuance of the diplomatic passport of András Lénárd, the XII. pursuant to Section 12 (2) of the Act took place in 2019.

Earlier, it turned out that Árpád Habony, a former adviser to the prime minister, also received a diplomatic passport, in February 2019.

Who are the beneficiaries?

The cited law regulates who has the right to a diplomatic passport. The scope is quite wide:

• the President of the Republic, the President of the Constitutional Court and the President of the Curia;

• Member of Parliament, Defender of Nationalities and Member of the European Parliament in Hungary;

• Commissioner and Vice President of Fundamental Rights, Vice President of the Curia, Chief Prosecutor and his deputies, Member of the Constitutional Court, President and Vice President of the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, President and Vice President of the National Authority for Media and Communications , President and Vice President of the State Audit Governor and Vice Governors of Magyar Nemzeti Bank;

• the Prime Minister, the Minister, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State for Administration and the Deputy Secretary of State;

• Member of the diplomatic or consular staff of the Ministry headed by the Minister responsible for foreign policy, member of the diplomatic staff of the Ministry headed by the Minister responsible for coordinating the affairs of the European Union, member of the diplomatic staff of the Hungarian diplomatic mission, international consular representative of Hungary other persons enjoying diplomatic privileges and immunities on the basis of the law, diplomatic and consular couriers;

• Chief and Deputy Chief of the Defense Forces, Director General and Deputies of the National Military Security Service, Chiefs and Deputies of Foreign Military Missions; and

• spouse, life partner, dependent child traveling with these people for official purposes.

A person traveling abroad on a diplomatic mission on behalf of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the President of the National Assembly or the Minister responsible for foreign policy on behalf of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Relations Foreign Affairs and a person whose passport at the proposal of the Minister of Foreign Policy.

What are the benefits?

In addition to prestige, a diplomatic passport has specific benefits. For example:

• allows visa-free entry into countries that require a visa (including Russia or China);

• you can use the diplomatic belt when you travel, thus avoiding customs inspection;

• you have the right to use the diplomatic number;

• your travel by land and air is tax free.

(Cover image: Shutterstock)