The diplomatic relations, which had been cut off due to the Second World War, were reestablished at the level of legation on 25 September 1945.  Both countries raised their missions to embassy level on 8 September 1966.

In addition to the embassy in Washington (www.hungaryemb.org), Hungary has a consulate general in New York (www.kum.hu/newyork) and Los Angeles.

There are Hungarian honorary consuls operating in the following cities: Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Honolulu, Houston, Mayaguez (Puerto Rico), Miami, New Orleans, San Francisco and Seattle.  The honorary consulate general in Saint Louis began its operation on 28th November 2005.

The Embassy of the United States of America is located in Budapest. (http://www.usembassy.hu)

General Evaluation of the Relationship

Since the transition began, Washington has continuously provided effective economic and political support to Hungary's efforts to establish democracy and market economy.  The balanced relations were characterized from the beginning by partnership that, as a result of Hungary's accession to NATO, turned into an alliance.

The successful political and economic transformation of our country, cooperation through bilateral channels and within NATO, and the recognition of Hungarian culture and science provide a good background for the dynamic development of our relations.  Hungary's participation in international peace-making and peace-keeping efforts, our support for NATO candidate countries of the region and our accession to the European Union have appreciated Hungary's importance for American foreign policy.  It is another positive incentive in our relations that 1.5 million politically active and influential Hungarians and individuals of Hungarian origin live in the United States.  In June 2003, a bipartisan caucus was formed in Congress supporting Hungarian interests, co-chaired by Democrat Tom Lantos and Republican Ernest Istook, both of Hungarian origin.

The only unresolved issue of Hungarian-American relations is the issue of visas. While Hungary abolished the visa requirement for American citizens in 1990, Hungarian citizens still need a visa to travel to the United States.  Our diplomacy has been trying to take Hungary off the list of states needing a visa for years, and there is a real chance for that in the medium term. In order to make progress, an agreement was reached during the U.S. visit of Minister of Interior Mónika Lamperth, in January 2004 to establish a bilateral consular working group. The Road Map announced during President Bush's European trip in February 2005, has outlined a reasonable chance for Hungary's inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program in many aspects. To that end, we have to fulfill several conditions, of which the strictest is to reduce the rejection rate of visa applications to 3%.

High-Level Visits

A state-level visit took place on 6-10 June 1999, when Árpád Göncz visited the United States.  President Bill Clinton received Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in October 1998.  In November 2001, former U.S. President George Bush received the Grand Cross with the Chain of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary from President Ferenc Mádl.  On 16 May 2002, the First Lady, Laura Bush visited Budapest.

Prime Minister Péter Medgyessy paid an official working visit to Washington and New York between 6-11 November 2002.  He met President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Powell, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, Secretary of Energy Abraham, Secretary of Justice Ashcroft and Secretary of Agriculture Veneman, as well as representatives of the business and scientific community and Hungarian Americans.

Between 15-22 April 2004, Minister for Foreign Affairs László Kovács had meetings with National Security Adviser Rice, and Secretary of State Powell on a trip also preparing the official working visit of Prime Minister Péter Medgyessy to San Francisco, Washington and New York between 19-24 June 2004.  The Prime Minister met President Bush, Secretary of State Powell and Health Secretary Thompson during his visit.

Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány visited New York and Washington on 4-8 October 2005 accompanied by Foreign Minister Ferenc Somogyi, Minister of Economy and Transport János Kóka and Defense Minister Ferenc Juhász.  The Prime Minister met UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and opened the new headquarters of the Institute of Hungarian Culture in New York.  Among others, he met President Bush, Secretary of State Rice, Commerce Secretary Gutierrez, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, Member of Congress Tom Lantos and several businessmen and representatives of Hungarian Americans. Ferenc Juhász met Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld.

Secretary of Commerce Don Evans met President Ferenc Mádl, Prime Minister Péter Medgyessy, Minister for Foreign Affairs László Kovács and Minister of Economy and Transport István Csillag in Budapest on 18 December 2003.

During her U.S. visit between 26-30 January 2004, Minister of Interior Mónika Lamperth met Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and Secretary of Justice John Ashcroft as well as several prominent representatives of the Congress and the Government.  The most important result of her meetings was an agreement to establish a bilateral working group to continue consultations on consular matters including the visa issue.

On 27 July 2004, Secretary of State Colin Powell delivered a speech in Budapest at the annual conference for heads of missions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Between 29 November and 3 December 2004, a business road show was organized in Austin, Houston, St. Louis and Denver, attended also by Minister of Economy and Transport János Kóka.  On 11-12 January 2005, János Kóka met, among others, Deputy Secretary of Commerce Ted Kassinger as well as investors in Washington.  A similar business road show took place between 28 November and 2 December 2005 spanning Saint Louis, Chicago and Cleveland.

Minister of Health Jenő Rácz and his American counterpart, Tommy Thompson, signed a co-operation agreement between the two ministries on 14 January 2005.  To facilitate the implementation of this agreement, the Hungarian minister visited the United States again at the beginning of April 2005.

Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ferenc Somogyi received Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick in Budapest on 29 March 2005.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ferenc Somogyi visited New York and Washington between 30 March and 1 April 2005.  In Washington, he met Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Adviser Steve Hadley, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Michael P. Jackson.

Minister of Economy and Transport János Kóka visited Philadelphia on 18-24 June 2005, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Las Vegas.  He met Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman.

Minister of Agriculture József Gráf visited the United States on 6-11 November 2005, where he met, among others, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Charles Conner and participated in professional programs in Iowa.

There are also intensive relations between the legislations of the two states.  Between 6-9 April 2004, a delegation of the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives led by Committee Chairman Henry Hyde visited Budapest, and was received by President Ferenc Mádl, Prime Minister Péter Medgyessy, Speaker of the Parliament Katalin Szili and Minister of Foreign Affairs László Kovács.  The delegation held a joint meeting with the Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs.  Between 7-9 April 2004, Mike Rogers, Majority Deputy Whip in the House of Representatives, had a meeting with Minister of Interior Mónika Lamperth in Budapest discussing the ways to combat international crime.  Between 16-26 September 2004, Speaker of the Parliament Katalin Szili visited the United States and met Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Congressional leaders.  Foreign Minister Ferenc Somogyi, Minister of Finance János Veres and Governor of the Hungarian National Bank Zsigmond Járai received the American Congressional delegation led by Senator Richard Shelby on 6 June 2005.  A Congressional Delegation led by Senator Saxby Chambliss met Minister of Agriculture József Gráf on 18 August 2005.  The Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs visited the United States between 16 and 23 October 2005.  The delegation met the ranking Democrat on the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives Tom Lantos, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky, and Senior Director of the NSC Judy Ansley.