Embassy News

Deputy Assistant Secretary Colleen Graffy Visits Hungary

Video Transcript

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy for Europe Colleen Graffy Visits Hungary from March 9 to 12, 2008.

Among the highlights of her visit, Ms. Graffy met with the Parliament’s Hungarian-American Friendship Caucus and attended a working lunch at Parliament as the guest of the Caucus, a multi-party group chaired by First District Mayor and MP Gábor Tamás Nagy. Taking advantage of this inaugural meeting with the Caucus, 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, and the importance of supporting Nabucco as the priority gas pipeline to bring diversity to regional energy resources.

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 Táncsics buildings during the 1848 Revolution. In her talk with the students, Ms. Graffy’s recalled that the U.S. and Hungarian governments signed an agreement in 2007 to begin the process of returning the Táncsics 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.

Earlier, in a lively two-hour discussion with 20 youth representatives of Hungary's five parliamentary parties, Ms. 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. Ms. 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. Graffy also 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.

On March 11, Ms. 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 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, for riding the crest of a new wave of web-based journalism and trans-border communities. 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.

Among the high points in Graffy’s 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 Pannon University, an American Fulbright professor helped arrange her meeting with 100 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 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.

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.

All 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.