Washington: Budapest has denounced the travel restrictions the US imposed on Hungarian citizens on Tuesday as "revenge" for Budapest's refusal to give American officials access to their citizens' personal information.

The limitations are related to the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP), which enables nationals of America's allies - a total of 40 primarily Western countries - to visit the US for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa. Hungary was also included in the VWP.

However, under the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, which operates automatically to determine whether a person can enter the US under the VWP, Hungarians are now only permitted to visit the US once every calendar year. According to the decision made in a specific case, Hungarians will need to reapply for authorization and pay fees ranging from $4 to $21 for subsequent trips.

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According to the standard VWP regulations, permission is only required every two years, and there is no limit on how many times a person can enter the US during that time. As of right now, Hungary is the only VWP country to be subject to such limitations.

The US defended its choice by arguing that Budapest had long granted citizenship to individuals without conducting adequate identity checks. Between 2011 and 2020, nearly 1 million people received Hungarian passports, according to AP. Some of the new Hungarian passport holders, according to a US official who spoke to the news agency, are allegedly "criminals" who pose a threat to the US and have no real ties to Hungary.

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Budapest reacted angrily to the action. The Interior Ministry of Hungary insisted that Washington wanted access to the personal information of dual citizens of Hungary who were living abroad.

Hungary withholds this information from anyone because it jeopardises the security of Hungarians living abroad. The government of [US] President Joe Biden is now exacting retribution on the Hungarians because of this, the ministry declared in a statement.

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Washington was primarily interested in obtaining the personal information of people residing outside the EU, specifically in Serbia's Vojvodina and Ukraine's Transcarpathia, according to Magyar Nemzet, a major Hungarian newspaper. According to the paper, the US was concerned that individuals who would ordinarily need a visa to enter the country could do so by using the VWP mechanism.