David Cornstein, the Ambassador of the United State of America to Budapest was the guest of the Ludovika-University of Public Service. The participation in the Ambassadors’ Forum at Ludovika was one of the diplomat’s last public appearances in Hungary before leaving at the end of October. The event focused on the evaluation of Ambassador David Cornstein’s tenure and the development of American-Hungarian relations.
„ I believe that the century long modern American-Hungarian relations, are strong, and we agree with our American friends that joint action based on our common values will make both of us even stronger” Koltay András greeted the Forum’s participants with these words. The Rector of the University spoke about the historical relations between the United States and Hungary among other things emphasizing that although we were on a different side in parts of the 20th century, the United States extended a helping hand to Central Europe, including Hungary even in the darkest periods. András Koltay marked Hungary’s accession to NATO (1999) as the most important stage in our common history, adding that „from that moment we are no longer just friends but allies. Klára Breuer, the international director of the Ludovika-UPS said: David Cornstein was delegated by the United State to Hungary in 2018, and from day one the goal was to make the friendly relationship between the two countries even closer and stronger. „ Not only did he do professional work, but he was passionate about improving the relationship between the two countries” Klára Breuer emphasized.
„ No matter what you have done in life so far, this will be the most productive, most exciting adventure you have ever experienced” Ambassador Cornstein launched his trip to Budapest with these words from his diplomat companions, who said this prognosis was confirmed during the years spent here in Hungary. In his presentation, he talked about his childhood and youth plans, as well as how he came to Budapest as an ambassador. On the first day in office, he only hoped he could make the already prosperous relationship better, but today he knows he has succeeded. He said he considered the Defence Cooperation Agreement signed by the two countries in April, one of the biggest achievements. The ambassador spoke about the agreement between Israel and the Arab countries, gave an opinion on the situation in Ukraine, but also spoke about China’s role in world politics and the coming US elections in November. Regarding the elections, he stated that although he could not take a stand on the issue, as he had known both candidates for a long time and therefore he believed that the work he had started here could be continued regardless who the next president would be.
The participants of the podium discussion in the second half of the Forum were Ambassador David Cornstein, former Chancellor and Constitutional Judge István Stumpf, Gábor Csizmazia, Head of the American Studies Research Institute of the Ludovika-UPS and Balázs Mártonffy, Assistant Professor at the Department of International Security Studies of the University. They asked the resigning Ambassador about lighter topics as well as politics, economics and energy issues. The Hungarian experts emphasized the role of the ambassador in political normalization and his achievements in the field of defence policy. Among other things, the relations between NATO and Ukraine, Hungary’s energy dependence and China’s role in world politics were discussed. Regarding China’s role, the ambassador remarked on the need of recognition of the new China, which is not that „developing China” it used to be. The responsibility of the Asian country for the coronavirus was also discussed, as well as the expected world economic situation after the pandemic. Before the event, András Koltay, rector of the Ludovika-UPS welcomed Ambassador David Cornstein in his office.
A detailed report on the event can be found in the November issue of Bonum Publicum magazine.