Amb. András Simonyi

Personal

Born May 16, 1952 in Budapest, Hungary.

Education & Professional Training

Spent 5 years in Denmark as a child with his parents, where he attended Bernadotte International and Hellerup Public schools. Graduated from the Karl Marx University of Economics (now Budapest Corvinus University) in 1975 as a transportation economist. He has a masters degree in political science and wrote his thesis on Denmark's security policy in the 20th Century (1988).

Professional Career

2007- Presently providing consultancy services through his company SoftPower LLC.  

 2002 –2007 Ambassador to the United States of America. During the five years of his tenure  worked with the US administration, Congress, media, the private sector and the arts institutions to further bilateral and EU-US relations. He was permanent escort to the President on his visit to Budapest in 2006. He was instrumental in his country’s support to the US in the wake of the 9.11. attack. He has also led the spectacular celebrations across the US of the 50th Anniversary of the Hungarian 1956 Freedom Fight and Revolution with the participation of  President Bush and Secretary of State Rice.

He has worked closely with Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez on a number of major transatlantic and bilateral issues. He worked with the Secretary of Homeland security Michael Chertoff on antiterrorism issues and Secretary of Energy Sam Bodman, on energy security. He lead efforts for obtaining the visa waiver for Hungary and other Central European countries.

The Ambassador  engaged in efforts  with both Houses of Congress on international and security related issues in particular with Chairman Tom Lantos and  members of the foreign relations committee, both democrat and republican, Sen. Dick Lugar, Sen. Joe Biden as well as with Sen. John Kerry and Sen. Chuck Hagel. He also worked with the US administration and Congress on human rights issues. The Hungarian Embassy under his leadership worked closely with key members of the Washington establishment, like Zbigniew Brzezinski, Madeleine Albright, Brent Scowcroft. He counts former New York governor George Pataki among his friends. He worked closely with the Czech, Polish, Belgian, Irish and Danish ambassadors.

He put an emphasis on working with and was a regular on the mainstream media. He appeared twice on the Colbert Report, was a guest on the Conan O’Brian show,  on CNN, C-Span, National Public Radio and other major national TV and radio channels.

He worked with  Ambassador Nancy Brinker as Ambassador in Hungary and  Chairwoman of the Susan Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer on health related cooperation.

2001 – 2002  Was partner in US owned IT company, Adaptive Broadband and ran his own consulting company, Danison Ltd.

1999 – 2001 Became the first Hungarian Ambassador to NATO. Represented Hungary on the Council under both the government of prime minister Gyula Horn between 1994 and 1998, as well as the government of Viktor Orbán from 1998 onwards. Worked closely under the leadership of Secretaries General Javier Solana and George Robertson on issues related to the Balkans and Russia, infrastructure development and other issues. He was also the Ambassador to the Western European Union.

1995 – 1999 Headed the Hungarian Liaison Office to NATO in Brussels. Was a key member of the team preparing Hungarian membership in NATO and was a member of the delegation to negotiate Hungary's accession to the Alliance. Initiated the stationing of U.S. troops in Hungary as part of NATO's IFOR-SFOR campaign in Bosnia. Spearheaded PR efforts prior to the referendum on NATO membership in his home country.

1992 – 1995 Deputy chief of mission (DCM) at the Mission of Hungary to the European Communities and NATO in Brussels in charge of security issues.

1991 – 1992 Deputy chief of mission (DCM) in the Hague.

1989 Joined the Foreign Ministry to work with as the personal assistant to then Foreign Minister, his mentor  László Kovács, who until recently was the EU Commissioner for tax affairs. He also headed the Nordic department of the Ministry.

1984 – 1989 Worked at the Foreign Relations Department of the later defunct Socialist Workers' Party with Gyula Horn and László Kovács.

1970s-80s Worked with different organizations in the field of youth exchange, in particular promoting East-West contacts, including programs with the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL).

Other interests:

Ambassador Simonyi has been dealing with the theoretical and  practical aspects of soft-power. He is in particular interested in the relationship between the non-state and state actors of soft- power and  the global impact of Western soft-power. He has given numerous lectures on the impact of rock and pop culture on Eastern European communist societies.

His book “Full throttle to the summit: the tricks of the trade of Washington diplomacy” about America and “out of the box” diplomacy was published last year and became a bestseller in Hungary.

He is on the Executive Board of the Center for Democratic Transition[, an organization supporting countries going through democratic change]. He is also a public speaker, frequent lecturer on security issues, transatlantic relations, the problems of military reform and NATO enlargement. He has published numerous articles on the above topics.

Languages

• Hungarian
• English (close to native)
• Danish (native)
• Dutch (good)
• German (good),
• French (fair).

Family

Married to Náda Peják, a language teacher by profession.Has two children, Dániel (30) and Sonja (28), both married to Flemish spouses.

Ambassador Simonyi is a long-time supporter of rock and roll music and is a practicing guitarist. He has  a rock band called the Coalition of the Willing which has deputy secretary of energy Daniel Poneman on guitar and assistant secretary of defense Alexander Vershbow on drums. They play exclusively for charity purposes. As part of cultural efforts, he worked with the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame to establish the importance of rock and pop cultures in our cultural relationship.