Dictator Suck-Up Watch (II): Silly Szili's Damascus Conversion

While Hungary remains mired in its pissing match with Saudi Arabia, it may be about to find itself in the middle of another long-running mideast wrangle. The problem involves a Hungarian delegation currently making the rounds in Damascus, the ancient capital of Syria. The mission, led by Parliamentary Speaker Katalin Szili (pictured meeting yesterday with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad), was apparently supposed to be of those embarrassing but harmless junkets politicians take to foreign countries to chit-chat with their opposite numbers and take in a bit of local color. But in this case, the outcome may be more embarrassing than usual.

The understandably scant coverage of the trip in the Hungarian and international press has focused on the lethally bland, "bridge-building" stuff. (A statement by Szili to Syrian state news agency SANA said the 5-day mission was "very important in strengthening and enhancing relations between Syria and Hungary in all fields, particularly in the economic and parliamentary ones, in addition to enhancing relations between both countries and the European Union.") But a report by the Chinese news agency Xinhua told a much different story:

"A delegation of Hungarian members of parliament on Wednesday voiced support to Syria which faces an international outcry asking it to withdraw from Lebanon," the report said. "The delegation, headed by Hungarian Parliament Speaker Sili Katalin (sic), lent support to Syria during a meeting with Syrian lawmakers."

The dispatch went on to quote "the visiting delegation" as saying that "the pressures and challenges, aimed to change Syria's just position, will passively affect security and stability in the region," and describing Syria's role in the Mideast peace process as "important and effective."

Before jumping to any conclusions, we would point out that Xinhua's reporters may have gotten it totally wrong. We sure hope so, and not just for the sake of the Lebanese, who are right now coming together after decades of division to demand that Syria end a 30-year occupation that has devolved into a primitive campaign of extortion, mischief-making and systematic looting. Because in one of the most startling recent developments in international relations, the US and the EU have pitched aside their differences to pressure Damascus to withdraw from Lebanon, and to otherwise stop being an impediment to peace and reform in the region. Indeed, so firm is the anti-Damascus consensus that no less than US President George W. Bush and his French counterpart Jacques Chirac put their blood-feud on hold to jointly issue a statement on Monday calling for the liberation of Lebanon from foreign occupation.

Though we are willing to give Szili and her delegation the benefit of the doubt for now, we'd strongly recommend that they get their Syria story straight. Pissing off Saudi Arabia is one thing, but getting on the wrong side of both France and the United States hardly seems like the kind of diplomatic coup Hungary needs right now.

Meanwhile, Szili has another reason to be cautious: The last time we checked, it was President Ferenc Mádl's job to suck up to bloody dictators.