U.S. limits Hungary's participation in visa waiver program
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Aug. 1 (UPI) -- The United States on Tuesday sharply limited Hungary's participation in a visa waiver program, citing security issues caused by years of relaxing citizenship policies under Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Under the change, which took effect immediately Tuesday, the Electronic System for Travel Authorization validity period for Hungarian passport holders traveling to the United States under the American Visa Waiver Program will be reduced from two years to one, and an ESTA will only be valid for one use, the U.S. Embassy in Hungary announced.
"In light of the Government of Hungary's decision not to fully address the security vulnerabilities created by the earlier implementation of its simplified naturalization process, procedures for all Hungarian passport holders to utilize the Visa Waiver Program have been modified," the embassy said.
The American Visa Waiver allows citizens of participating states to travel the United States for tourism or business for up to 90 days without a visa as long as they have an ESTA.
The embassy noted that ESTA approvals granted before Tuesday will remain valid for two years and multiple entries.
"This is a really unfortunate day," David Pressman, the U.S. ambassador in Budapest, told Politico. "This is not the outcome the United States sought or is seeking."
Since 2010, Orban's government made policy changes to grant citizenship to ethnic Hungarians living abroad which his critics say was done for political motives. The policies include Hungarians living in Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine.
U.S. officials are worried that under Hungary's relaxed citizenship rules, someone there could enter the U.S. visa program without being properly vetted in their home country.
"The Government of Hungary's simplified naturalization process granted Hungarian citizenship to nearly one million people between 2011 and 2020 without adequate security measures in place to verify their identities," the embassy said.
The move comes with Hungary's relationship with the United States and the European Union stand at a crossroads. Orban won his fourth straight term as prime minister in April 2022, while he has maintained a relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin during its invasion of Ukraine.
