Past Events 2006
Young Hungarian Politicians View America
A group of young Hungarian politicians, representing all major parties in Hungary, visited the United States November 4-15, 2006, in the framework of the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL), under a program that dates back to 1982. A U.S. Embassy web contributor asked the politicians about their experiences in the United States.
What was the program’s main goal?
The program’s main goal was to provide young Hungarian politicians, between the ages of 25 to 40, direct knowledge about the political system in the U.S. by visiting different government institutions and by building personal contact with players in American political life. ACYPL’s main programs are reciprocal international political study tours of usually 10 to 14 days in length. An American delegation to Hungary will arrive in the beginning of 2007 to collect experiences here.
What places did you visit?
We had a very comprehensive and complex program. In the first couple of days we toured the U.S. capital, visited both branches of Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate, the State Department, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the Department of Homeland Security. We got insight into the 2006 National Election Campaign events and visited voting and polling centers. After Washington we traveled to Lexington, Kentucky, and to New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In Lexington we met local dignitaries Senator Mitch McConnell and Mayor of Louisville Jerry Abramson and visited the Old and the New Capitol buildings. In New Orleans we traveled to areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina and observed the recovery efforts and the results of reconstruction.
What was special about the program?
The program was tailor-made to our special needs. The organizers took into consideration our previous duties, and planned the program to accommodate everyone's field of interest and job experience in Hungary. We could experience, for example, how the cooperation of political parties enhances urban development, what the characteristics of an American election campaign are, and how politics can help reconstruction in case of need.
What differences did you find as far as people’s attitude to politics is concerned?
We could see no political division in the country. Contrary to Hungary, politics does not influence people’s personal relations to each other.
How did you find American people in general?
We met a lot of kind, friendly and open people who were very interested in Hungary. We could also see how much family values are important to the Americans in general.
What did you learn through the program? Why was it useful?
One of the main goals of the program is to promote understanding and we think the study tour reached that goal. We understand much better American political life, the country’s objectives, the operation of its institutions and the American people. The program also helped us to understand each other and our representation of different political views. Although, we are coming from different political parties and organizations, and thus have our differences and disagreements, we had to be united to represent Hungary the best way we could.
How will you make use of the experiences collected?
One of our goals is to continue to meet regularly even after the study tour and lead discussions to find ways for cooperation on various issues, compare our experiences with the Hungarian situation, and work out solutions for Hungary-specific problems.
The participants of the program were: Tímea Paszternák (MSZP), László Solymos (MSZP), Viktor Szabadai (SZDSZ), Attila Simon (FIDESZ), Mária Bodnár (Fidelitas) and Máté Hegedűs (MDF).