Washington is “concerned” by the deterioration of relations between the United States and Hungary, a US executive official said on Friday, accusing Budapest of choosing a “polarizing” and “politicized” approach to bilateral relations.

“It is important” to correct the situation, “we are concerned about the current situation”, – the Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Samantha Power told the media from Budapest, reports Agerpres.

She is the highest-ranking US official to make an official visit to Budapest since Democratic President Joe Biden took office in 2021. During her visit to the Hungarian capital, Samantha Power is scheduled to meet with ministers, journalists and civil society leaders.

“The Hungarian government’s politicized approach to our relationship is polarizing, sterile and based on outright lies that have been proven time and time again,” she said.

His comments came a week after a heated exchange between Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó and the United States ambassador to Budapest. David Pressman condemned Hungary’s ambiguous stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in the context of which nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban has more verbally supported Kyiv while continuing to maintain close energy ties with Moscow. “It’s not his business, it’s not his business to interfere in our internal affairs,” the minister replied, asking David Pressman for “more respect.”

Appointed ambassador to Budapest last September, David Pressman, a lawyer who specializes in fundamental rights, announced his arrival in the Hungarian capital by posting photos of himself with his husband and their children on social media. Since then, he has been attacked by the pro-government press in Hungary, a country often accused of violating the rights of the LGBT+ minority.

Since Viktor Orbán’s return to power in 2010, relations with American Democrats have always been strained, with the Hungarian prime minister a staunch supporter of former Republican President Donald Trump.