Ari Epstein

This week’s @USNATO Huddle highlights the power of the defense industrial base, which was full display at the Brussels European Defence Exhibition & Conference earlier this week. President Trump’s 5% GDP push is fueling this innovation and U.S.-European co-production is key to a stronger @NATO Alliance.

🇭🇺🇸🇰🇨🇿🇵🇱🤝❤️🤍❤️⚫️🟡🇧🇪 Following our December meeting with the @beneluxunion leadership, we had an excellent & eventful working day trip to @Stad_Antwerpen visiting @PortofAntBruges, @FODFinancien DG Customs, the Honorary Consulate of #Hungary in #Antwerp and @PZAntwerpen under the auspices of the #Hungarian @V4_PRES for a fascinating series of discovery and professional discussions revolving around public #safety & #security, fighting organized crime & drug trade and international law enforcement (#customs & #police) cooperation. More reporting on this comprehensive & successful day to come in more detail‼️🤗 @Bart_DeWever @elsvandoesburg @JanJambon @BernardQuintin_ @prevotmaxime @BelgiumMFA @ibzbe @MFA_Lu @NLinBE @bschwachofer @LUinBrussels @jlouthill @BelgiumBudapest @JeroenVergeylen @BelgiumLux @LANDECK_D @FIT_agency @Flanders_DFA @CZtoEU_Brussels @SLOVAKIAinEU @PLinBelgium @HungaryintheEU @EpsteinAri @DiploWorld

🇭🇺🤝⚫️🟡 I was very happy to meet again with friends @vlaamseoverheid Minister-President @MDiependaele and @Flanders_DFA Secretary-General @JulieBynens & many #Flemish administration, @FIT_agency & #Ambassador colleagues at the (always very nice) New Year’s Reception of the Government of #Flanders in the #Errerahuis. @EpsteinAri

🇭🇺✡️🇧🇪🇪🇺 It was my utmost honor to represent #Hungary with our Honorary Consul @EpsteinAri & diplomat colleagues from the #Embassy at a very special International Holocaust Remembrance Day event of @eurojewcong, an exclusive preview screening of the 2025 movie #Nuremberg at UGC Toison d’Or last night, a movie almost entirely filmed in Hungary. Thoughtful and moving commemorative speeches by EJC EVP @rayakalenova, @IsraelinEU’s @avraham_nir, @DBoBruessel and @Europarl_EN MEP @TonoEPP. The screening marked 80 years since the Nuremberg Trials, underscoring their enduring legacy for international justice and their foundational role in shaping modern human rights and accountability mechanisms. At a particularly challenging time for #Jewish communities across #Europe and beyond, revisiting the lessons of Nuremberg was painfully timely. @IsraelinBelgium @IditAbu @IsraelatNATO @IsraelinHungary @HungaryintheEU @hadjalahbib @JanHoogmartens @EESC_President @GSchusterschitz @MKarnitschnig @FORUMJO1 @BillWhiteUSA @ThatcherScharpf @USAmbBelgium @USAmbEU @MupaBudapest #HolocaustMemorialDay

🇭🇺🇧🇪🇪🇺🌍 Happy 2️⃣5️⃣th birthday 🎂 @DiploWorld‼️ I was very pleased to celebrate with you last night together with our Honorary Consul in #Flanders, @EpsteinAri and many #Ambassador and diplomat colleagues from the largest diplomatic community in the world in #Brussels! It was my great honor to be featured in this prestigious & venerable magazine of our trade multiple times over the years‼️🤝 @BelgiumMFA @BrandersR @JeroenVergeylen @BelgiumBudapest

🇭🇺🤝🇧🇪 It was my utmost pleasure with my wife @Szepessy10 to represent #Hungary at the New Year’s Reception of H.M. King #Philippe and Queen #Mathilde of @MonarchieBe in the Royal Palace of Brussels yesterday. Honored to greet Their Majesties and talk to @BelgiumDefence Minister @FranckenTheo, @MonarchieBe Head of Cabinet Vincent #Houssiau & Diplomatic Adviser Peter #Claes, Chief of Staff Foreign Affairs & Security of Prime Minister @Bart_DeWever, @PascalHeyman, @BelgiumMFA’s @GentzisTheodora, @BirgitStevens, @PCartuyvels and other colleagues from the Ministry and many fellow Ambassadors from the 🇪🇺🇺🇸 @BillWhiteUSA 🇻🇦🇹🇷 & beyond. Many thoughtful discussions on turbulent world affairs and about the excellent cooperation & outstanding successes of the recent 🇭🇺💯🇧🇪 diplomatic centennial, our flagship #Wetstraat/#RuedelaLoi 9 House of Hungary project and the very special 2024 year of our #Belgian-#Hungarian 🇧🇪🇭🇺 EU 🇪🇺 Presidencies.

Wishing our Flanders Honorary Consul @EpsteinAri and all our #Jewish friends in #Antwerp, #Brussels and everywhere in #Belgium🇧🇪, #Luxembourg🇱🇺, #Hungary🇭🇺, and in #Israel🇮🇱 and around the world 🌍 G'mar chatima tovah for #YomKippur2026 beginning tonight ✡️🇭🇺🇧🇪🇮🇱 @IsraelinBelgium @IsraelinEU @IsraelatNATO @IsraelinHungary @eurojewcong @rayakalenova @EJAssociation @EjccOfficial @MargolinRabbi @avitawil

RT @tamasivankovacs: 🇭🇺🤝🇧🇪 It was my utmost pleasure to represent #Hungary 🇭🇺 and wish the happiest #nationalefeestdag #fêtenationale #Belg…

🇭🇺🤝🇧🇪 On the occasion of the #National #Day of #Belgium, the #Embassy of #Hungary in #Brussels expresses its best wishes to all our #Belgian friends‼️🤗 Gefeliciteerd met de Nationale feestdag van #België! Félicitations à la #Belgique à l’occasion de la Fête nationale! Glückwunsch an #Belgien zum Nationalfeiertag! #21juli #21juillet #FêteNationale #NationaleFeestdag #HappyBelgium #be2107 @MonarchieBe @PeterDeRoover1 @vincentblondel @Bart_DeWever @prevotmaxime @DeKamerBE @LaChambreBE @senatbesenaat @BelgiumMFA @BelgiumDGB @BelgiumDGE @BelgiumBudapest @BelgiumLux @JeroenVergeylen @BrandersR @EpsteinAri

It was my great pleasure to represent #Hungary 🇭🇺 at the invitation of my #Polish 🇵🇱 Colleague, Ms. Katarzyna #Skórzyńska, Chargée d’affaires a.i. of the Republic of #Poland to Belgium @PLinBelgium at the last @POLAND25EU 🇵🇱🇪🇺 #HoMs lunch in #Brussels with #Belgian 🇧🇪 Prime Minister @Bart_DeWever. Captivating discussion on #migration, #economy and #defence developments in #Belgium & in #Europe. I was very happy to meet again and talk with my Wetstraat 16 neighbor (hailing from Wetstraat 9) and look forward to continuing our good dialogue and (now also neighborly) relations dating back to 2012 & @Stad_Antwerpen. @ThomasLambertBE

🕯️✡️🇭🇺 Memorial Day of the #Hungarian Victims of the #Holocaust in our @Liszt_Inst_Bxl.

🕯️✡️🇭🇺 On the occasion of the 16 April Memorial Day of the #Hungarian Victims of the #Holocaust (established by the @PM_ViktorOrban-government in 2001 to commemorate the setting-up of the first ghetto in 1944 in North-Eastern Hungary and Transcarpathia), the Embassy of #Hungary organized its traditional #solemn #commemoration in the @Liszt_Inst_Bxl Cultural Institute yesterday, where I had the privilege of delivering the keynote speech. Honorary Consul of Hungary in #Flanders, @EpsteinAri shared his moving personal #testimony representing the @Stad_Antwerpen Jewish Community of strong Hungarian roots after lighting the candles of remembrance. #Ambassadors & #diplomats from many countries 🇮🇱🇸🇮🇷🇴🇺🇸🇬🇧🇯🇵 & more and representatives of #Belgian, #European & international #Jewish organizations, including @ccojb @eurojewcong, @KazerneDossin, @EJAssociation and many others were in attendance. @IditAbu @IsraelinBelgium @SLOinBEL @IsraelinHungary @IsraelinEU @USAmbBelgium @UKinBelgium @JapanEmbBelgium

✡️🇧🇪🇭🇺 It was our privilege and somber duty this year to start the annual “Lecture des noms des déportés juifs”/“Reading of names” of #YomHaShoah victims deported from #Belgium with my country’s Honorary Consul in #Flanders, @EpsteinAri - broadcast live on @RadioJudaicaBxl - a dignified and moving #tradition, during which it was an #honor to represent #Hungary. @IsraelinBelgium @IsraelinEU @IsraelatNATO @IditAbu @HaimRegev @IsraelinHungary @MayaKadosh @eurojewcong @rayakalenova @EJAssociation @MargolinRabbi @EjccOfficial @avitawil @DBoBruessel #WeRemember #NeverForget #NeverAgain

Excellent first meeting & fascinating conversation on all things #Hungary, #Belgium and our rich bilateral relations with the new @BelgiumDGB of @BelgiumMFA H.E. Birgit #Stevens, Director General (DG) for Bilateral Affairs at the #Belgian Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs. It was also a great opportunity to revisit some of the highlights of the past few years, including our 2022-2023 🇭🇺💯🇧🇪 #diplomatic #centennial memorial year and the achievements of the very special common 🇧🇪🇭🇺 #EU 🇪🇺 Presidency year in 2024. @BelgiumBudapest @JeroenVergeylen

I joined Budapest’s Jewish community in the Dohány Street Synagogue to commemorate the liberation of the Budapest ghetto 80 years ago

🚀 Belgium takes pole position in the race for the future! 🏎️ From Limburg to Las Vegas, AI-powered race cars (309.3 km/h!) are breaking boundaries. Proud to have contributed to this revolution. The story is just beginning—stay tuned! #CES2025 #AutonomousRacing #Innovation @droneport_eu @InvestFlanders @Ethias @IndyAChallenge @Aidoptation @LRM_nv @MDiependaele @ErikSaelens

Today as #Christians ✝️ celebrate #Christmas  Day🎄in #Hungary 🇭🇺, #Belgium 🇧🇪, #Luxembourg 🇱🇺 and around the world 🌍, “our elder brothers in the faith of Abraham” as Pope John Paul II said, will begin to celebrate the #Jewish ✡️ holiday of #Hanukkah 🕎 tonight, when the first candle is lit. Our 🇭🇺 #Embassy wishes our friends & colleagues Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah and a very nice holiday season‼️ @EduardHabsburg @EpsteinAri @IsraelinBelgium @IsraelinEU @IsraelinHungary @eurojewcong @EJAssociation @EjccOfficial

🎆 Closing 2024 with Gratitude 🎄 The past days have been filled with inspiring conversations that reflect the power of leadership and collaboration. From meeting 🟡⚫️ @MDiependaele , Flanders’ Minister-President, and @BernardQuintin_ , Belgium’s🇧🇪 MFA, to discussing transatlantic ties with 🇺🇸🇪🇺 @USAmbEU Mark Gitenstein and interfaith dialogue with 📚🤝 @MarekHalter , these moments underscore the importance of connection. I was equally inspired by 🏛️ @PeterDeRoover1 , President of the Chamber, and 🎓 @ValerieDeBue , President of the Senate, whose work strengthens Belgium’s future. 🎉 Special congratulations to 🇭🇺 @tamasivankovacs on Hungary’s successful EU Presidency, advancing European unity. Wishing all a joyful holiday season 🎄✨, a meaningful Chanukah 🕎, and a prosperous New Year 🎆. #HappyHolidays #BuildingBridges

Privileged to meet Admiral @CMC_NATO Rob Bauer, Chair of the @NATO Military Committee, & Chief of Defence Frederik Vansina at a high-level conference on Trade, Security & EU Prosperity 🌍 @PortofAntBruges @GrowthInc . Great discussions on economic security, geopolitical stability & critical infrastructure ⚓️. @PeterDeKeyzer @jacquesvdmeiren @AnneliesVl @PaulVanTigchelt @JohanKlaps #TradeSecurityProsperity #EUDefense #NATO #GeopoliticalStability #CriticalInfrastructure

This morning, a breakfast meeting with the 27 Heads of Mission of the member states of the European Union. A great first opportunity to exchange views with the ambassadors of the EU27. It was also an opportunity to take stock of the major current dossiers.