EMBASSY NEWS

Deputy Assistant Secretary Colleen Graffy Visits Hungary

Deputy Asst. Secretary Graffy with Gábor Tamás Nagy at the Parliament  (Embassy photo by Attila Németh - full size photo)

Graffy Meets with Parliament’s Hungarian-American Friendship Caucus

DAS Graffy attended a working lunch at Parliament as the guest of the Hungarian-American Friendship Caucus, a multi-party group chaired by District 1 Mayor and MP Gábor Tamás Nagy.  The lunch discussion covered several issues, such as how to organize the upcoming memorial service for Congressman Tom Lantos.  Taking advantage of this inaugural meeting with the Committee, Ms. Graffy raised the issue of future inter-parliamentary meetings with U.S. counterparts in Congress, possible internships in the Hungarian Parliament, increasing the number of Hungarian students to the U.S. for higher education, the progress being made in Hungary’s accession to the Visa Waiver Program, the importance of supporting Nabucco as the priority gas pipeline to bring diversity to regional energy resources, and her own visit to the historic Tancsics prison, one of the properties to be exchanged in accordance with our recent bilateral property agreement.  (photo gallery)

Promises Kept: Graffy Visits With Hungarian Students at Táncsics Prison Commemoration

Ms. Graffy also took part on March 11 in a U.S.-Embassy-sponsored program for 50 high school students at the historic Táncsics complex.  The program featured a talk by historian and retired Hungarian Ambassador Tamás Katona on the historic events that transpired within the walls of the Tancsics buildings during the 1848 Revolution.  In her talk with the students, DAS Graffy’s recalled that the U.S. and Hungarian governments signed an agreement in 2007 to begin the process of returning the Tancsics complex to Hungary as part of a property exchange.  This fulfilled a promise made by President Bush to Prime Minister Gyurcsány during the President’s June 2006 visit to Hungary.  She also counseled the students to think about a term of study in the United States.  There are many organizations right here in Hungary that help students find the right university and financial assistance to cover many costs, she advised them. (photo gallery)

Hungary’s Young Political Leaders Engage Graffy With Thoughtful Q&A

In a lively two-hour discussion with 20 youth representatives of Hungary's five parliamentary parties, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Colleen Graffy covered a spectrum of key U.S. foreign policy issues.  Coming on the heels of a Hungarian national referendum the previous day, Graffy's March 10 meeting afforded the young politicians an opportunity to compare intense political campaigns in the United States and in Hungary.  DAS Graffy emphasized to the group the importance of the internet in twenty-first century politics, elaborated on a number of "hot topics" in current U.S.-Hungarian relations including the visa waiver program, the importance of the Nabucco pipeline for Hungary's energy security, and the successes in the global war on terrorism in Iraq and elsewhere that are seldom covered in international press. Graffy engaged the group on their thoughts about the upcoming presidential elections in the United States, praising them for the depth of their knowledge of both the candidates and the issues.  This discussion was the latest in a series of Embassy events to bring together senior Washington officials and representatives of the next generation of Hungarian leaders.  The youth groups have already begun posting photos and descriptions of the meeting to their websites. (photo gallery)

Graffy Praises CafeBabel.com as New Wave of Web-Based Journalism and Community Involvement

On March 11, DAS Colleen Graffy was the guest speaker of the Budapest team of CafeBabel.com, the European online magazine on current affairs whose chief goal is to contribute to the emergence of a European public opinion.  The Budapest team (link: http://budapest.cafebabel.com/en/) was interested in Ms. Graffy’s insights on how American social groups affect foreign policy, the connection between diplomacy and the modern media, and how American political campaigns use the media – what are their strategies and best practices? Graffy praised the Café Babel members, 20 young people from a variety of professions, for riding the crest of a new wave of web-based journalism and trans-border communities.  These groups attract the kind of committed, thoughtful people most likely to vote, Graffy noted, thus political parties in the U.S. are keen to engage them.  Graffy also brought her hosts up-to-date on topics that many of her audiences raised throughout her visit, including: America’s Visa Waiver Policy, the current situation in Iraq, U.S. policy on climate change, and U.S. elections.  Participants agreed that the increasing role of web-based media in international affairs can be a constructive influence bringing, greater awareness and transparency to important issues of the day.  To underscore this point, DAS Graffy concluded her visit with interviews given to on-line journalists. (photo gallery)

Schools and Universities Offer Insights into the Hungary of Today and Tomorrow

Among the high points in DAS Graffy’s March 9-12 visit to Hungary were her talks and exchanges with university and high school students.  These were enormously helpful in giving her a deeper understanding of the concerns and aspirations of the next generation of Hungarian leaders.  For example, at the University of Pannonia, an American Fulbright professor helped arrange her meeting with 250 students, faculty, and city officials where questions ranged from U.S. elections to elimination of poverty and protection of the environment. 

At the Budapest Business College, 60 undergrads were keen to engage on questions of competitiveness in the energy market and the issues related to gas pipelines and energy security.  Graffy’s appearance was part of the Embassy’s representation at the College’s “America Days” program - a yearly focus on U.S. society and politics that coincided with the Deputy Assistant Secretary’s visit. 

Graffy challenged a lecture hall of 80 students and faculty at the Budapest Communications College to think beyond merely government communication with the public when we think of Public Diplomacy.  This is a broader and deeper contact between societies that includes the facilitation of people-to-people exchanges across the full range of human endeavor.  Connections nurtured through the good offices of Embassies and diplomats help strengthen friendship and mutual understanding, the basis on which better understanding of policy is built.   The 80 students and faculty in attendance, and especially the Rector were so impressed with Graffy’s command of the subject that they asked her to return as a guest lecturer. 

Graffy conducted her last student outreach visit without leaving the Public Affairs Office of the U.S. Embassy.  She spoke via a Skype internet videoconference with the Tóth Árpád high school in Debrecen on the last day of her visit.  Fifty high school students, aged 14 to 18, asked some of the toughest questions she encountered on her trip, for example: gun control (now the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court review), the Visa Waiver Program, the legacy of 9/11, the effects of the rapid growth of Chinese economy on the U.S, Guantánamo, and the Visa Lottery Program.   A photojournalist captured on film the class’ excitement at using this new technology for classroom lessons.  Ms. Graffy was also impressed with the quality of the connection and with the searching questions these young people asked. (photo gallery)

And the Vital Importance of Education Exchange

During her visit, Ms. Graffy met with many Hungarian alumni of education exchange programs that took them to the U.S. for a period of study.  Although their fields of study were quite different – from nuclear physics to English literature – all asked her to examine the possibilities for more Hungarian high schoolers to visit and study in the U.S.  The Embassy has already agreed to partner with Youth For Understanding to sponsor at least one more Hungarian to spend an academic year at a U.S. high school.  Graffy agreed to look into what more she could do on this subject. (photo gallery)