The former Hungarian ambassador to the United States, András Simonyi, tells Newsmax that the release of the CIA torture report by Senate Democrats is healthy even though it may be infuriating to some.
"It's a sign of health that the U.S. is having this discussion," Simonyi told J.D. Hayworth on "America's Forum" on
Newsmax TV Wednesday.
Story continues below video
Note: Watch Newsmax TV now on DIRECTV Ch. 349 and DISH Ch. 223
Get Newsmax TV on your cable system – Click Here Now
"It will perhaps infuriate some, but the bottom line is this is just another sign of, unfortunately, growing anti-American sentiments globally, which I find really, really dangerous," he explained.
"Most Europeans will say this is really terrible, but it's a very strong sign of health and democracy that you can have this conversation in the U.S. Congress," he said.
The former Hungarian ambassador, who now works as the Managing Director of the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, said that he doesn't expect that the report will affect diplomatic relations with allied nations very much.
"I don't think within the alliance, the relationship will be damaged severely," Simonyi explained.
"But perhaps there has to be more efforts made towards the public to explain what this is about," he said.
"It's important to do some damage control, but not exaggerate the impact in countries that are friendly to the U.S.," he added.
"Of course, in countries where the population is inclined to be anti-American, it will have a negative effect."
Simonyi contends that "the important thing is to send a strong message that this debate is happening — the pros and cons are being presented."
"At the end of the day, the United States will get through this and my personal belief is that debates like this — openness about things that happened will make the United States stronger, more attractive as a democracy, and this is how Americans should think about these things," he added
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.