Transcript of Pelosi Press Availability at Terror House on Official Visit to Hungary

Contact: Nadeam Elshami/Drew Hammill, 202-226-7616

Budapest – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi held a press availability after delivering remarks at the Terror House Museum in Budapest, Hungary.

Below is a transcript of the Leader’s remarks:

Leader Pelosi. I’d be pleased to take any questions you have, I’ve made my statement in the other room.

Q: Leader Pelosi, I’m the [inaudible] and my question is, what specific issues, concerns, did you raise at your meetings with the Secretary Mr. Orbán and Speaker Kover, [and what response did you get]?

Leader Pelosi. The question, in case you didn’t hear on this side of the room, was what specific issues did we raise with the Prime Minister and with the Speaker and what response did we get?

First of all, we congratulated the Prime Minister and the Speaker on the successes they have had in Hungary, expressing though some concerns that we have heard about across the Atlantic, that relate to freedom of the press, independence of the judiciary, issues that relate to free and fair elections – you know the issues. I was encouraged by the response that we received, that some of the issues being attended to by the Venice Commission are being discussed between the commission and the Hungarian government. That freedom of the press is an issue that concerns of which are well known to this administration, and they’re – they’re on it, they understand. So, this was not a challenge to them. This was not a challenge to them. This was a discussion in friendship and a hopeful one.

I think it’s important to note also that, on the more positive side, we commented, all of us, on the strength of our relationship, whether its working side-by-side in Afghanistan, our work together in global security, our work together on global economic success. So, again, we have a great deal in common that we work on and our relationship is very well served by our Ambassador.

On the subject of global security, at both of the meetings that Congresswoman Jean Schmidt of Ohio took special pride in the relationship between Ohio National Guard and the Hungarian military in working together now in Afghanistan.

Another issue that we discussed, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who is the senior Democrat on the Financial Services subcommittee, talked about the attitudes toward the central bank. And we had a discussion about that as well.

Q: The question is – we’re in the same family of democratic countries – and we have problems and we solve in different matters. Do you believe that Hungary can use a different matter than yours, or the mainstream world, and still be a democratic country?

Leader Pelosi. Of course, but we do believe that there are certain pillars of a strong and prosperous democracy. The public sector, the government, the private sector, the business role, and of course, our commitment to values and that includes an independent judiciary, it includes freedom of the press, it includes free and fair elections. And we all want to keep reminding each other how important that is. And I think that the Secretary’s letter has been met with some positive response, would you say Madam Ambassador?

Ambassador Kounalakis. Well, there was a non-public letter in December, I think that the response that’s been positive, as [Deputy Secretary] Melia said, was that there appears to be progress and as you said ‘they’re on it.’

Leader Pelosi. Would [any] women [reporters] have any questions?

Q: I would like to ask you, how would you see the state of the Hungarian Parliament, after your visit to the House Speaker – you know, in Hungary sometimes, your position gets less than 24 hours to discuss the bill.

Leader Pelosi. Well, you know, when you’re here for just a short period of time, you have to have the humility that you’re not qualified to talk about how a Parliament conducts its business, but let’s just say in any country, including our own, respect for the minority is very important. And hearing all views mutually improves the quality of the legislation. But what I’m interested in seeing is how the Parliament takes up some of the issues that relate to the central bank, that relate to the Ministers of Justice's suggestions – a few call them suggestions – and then, some of the concerns expressed by the Venice Commission, some of which overlap. If I just may say, pandering to the press as I will now, if there were one freedom that I think is absolutely essential.

Q: Some would say that the years in war have eroded the moral ground from which you can criticize democracies. What do you do presently in the United States Congress to regain that moral ground?

Leader Pelosi. Well, I believe that in our country, although we have disagreement about going into war, if you’re referring to the War in Iraq, that we had disagreement on that. It is the strength of our democracy that we could speak out against it, as many of us did. But make no mistake: one of the pillars of our foreign policy, our commitment to human rights and to democracy. It’s right there on par with our national security, our economic security, our values, and again, we have disagreement, maybe, about going into the Iraq War, but it has not eroded, in my view, the moral ground of the United States of America to speak out for democracy and freedom. And to strengthen our own. And let me just say, strengthening our own comes back to what I started to say.

I don’t say this just because we’re at a press conference. I say it because we’re in Hungary at a press conference. The issue of freedom of the press, in my view, if you had to have one right, freedom of the press would be the most useful one because every other freedom, whether its freedom of religion, freedom to assemble, freedom of speech, and the rest, are strengthened by the ability of the press to tell the story of what government is doing to its people, of what a country is doing to the world. And so, I salute all of you for the work that you do because it is very fundamental to a democracy. And that’s why when the media laws, et cetera, raise some questions, in friendship we wanted to suggest that whatever the situation was here, and you know better than the rest of us what it is, we would hope it would be, every decision would be made in favor of strengthening the democracy in Hungary and that applies to freedom of the press.

Thank you all very much.

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