US criticism aims to help Hungary, says Socialist leader

Concerns raised by United States officials about developments in Hungary are aimed at helping the country, Socialist leader Attila Mesterhazy said in Washington, DC, late on Wednesday. Mesterhazy said officials at the State Department had indicated that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's letter outlining concerns about the independence of the Hungarian judiciary, the country's new church law and the freedom of the media, had not been without "precursors or consequences".