Free Republic

The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on a Hungary-based bank linked to Russia, marking a new low point in Hungary’s relationship with Washington. The U.S. Treasury Department announced the penalties, which will target the International Investment Bank (IIB), a controversial institution located in Budapest with ties to the Russian state. The bank’s presence in Hungary has drawn the ire of Western officials, who fear it could be used for Russian intelligence operations inside Europe. Speaking to reporters in Budapest on Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman said Washington had repeatedly shared information with Hungarian counterparts about how...

Whoever doesn’t take the current Clinton candidacy seriously is a fool. It’s quite probable that she’ll end up inheriting the Iraq War and all its collateral issues which I’m sure doesn’t sweeten the pot, but she’s determined to become President anyway. I admire her for that. I know I wouldn’t want to inherit someone else’s baggage. And certainly not that kind of baggage. Candidate Hillary Clinton sure has a lot to say about the Iraq War and how the current administration has conducted itself. Maybe I missed it, but she has not had nearly enough to say about another issue,...

International pressure on Serbia over the future of Kosovo and the surrender of war criminals is counter-productive and could lead to instability, Vuk Draskovic, Serbia’s foreign minister, warned on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT “The humiliation of the people of Serbia must be stopped,” Mr Draskovic told the Financial Times while visiting Washington for the annual convention in the US of the National Prayer Breakfast to be hosted by President George W. Bush. Mr Draskovic echoed a warning delivered hours earlier by Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, that independence for Kosovo would fuel demands for independence elsewhere, naming Georgia’s provinces of Abkhazia and South...