Dr. George Szapary, the Hungarian ambassador to the U.S., recently visited Los Angeles to discuss political, social and economic matters with that city’s leaders. L.A. Fire Commissioner Andrew Friedman introduced the ambassador to Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca for a discussion pertaining to policing problems that are common to Budapest and Los Angeles.
In the wake of recent anti-Semitic statements made in the Hungarian parliament, Friedman hosted a breakfast at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. In addition to leaders of the Center, Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee members attended the breakfast. Ambassador Szapary said that the extreme right-wing Hungarian political party Jobbik is not part of the government, and that Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government has publicly declared that Hungary has a zero tolerance policy on the issue of anti-Semitism.