Embassy News

Ambassador’s Talk With Students Highlights Goals of NATO Summit

Ambassador Foley delivers her remarks at the University of Pannonia. (Embassy photo by Attila Németh - full size photo)

As one of her regular Public Affairs-organized outreach visits, Ambassador Foley visited University of Pannonia in Veszprém March 31, 2008 to detail the goals of the NATO Bucharest Summit.

To an overflow audience of 300 students, and with the city mayor and county council president in attendance, the Ambassador first thanked Hungary for its valuable NATO contributions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo, and for hosting a NATO C-17 support base to be constructed at Pápa. The U.S. and Hungary also shared some of the key goals of the Bucharest NATO Summit such as the accession of Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia to the Alliance, and the inauguration of MAP programs for Georgia and Ukraine. During the Q&A that followed, the Ambassador emphasized the continued necessity of close coordination between the EU and NATO regardless of how the CFSP develops, and the certainty that democracy can flourish in Iraq and Afghanistan once NATO and its coalition partners help stabilize the security situation.

The Ambassador followed this with a visit to the bilingual school in Balatonalmádi where she urged students to take advantage of the Education USA representative at the American Corner in Veszprém for assistance in preparing for a term of study in the U.S.