Hungary: neither friend nor foe, but who?

The Magyars are trying to sit on two chairs: supporting the anti-Russian sanctions and at the same time trying not to break off economic ties with Russia.

At the end of March, Russia included Hungary in its list of unfriendly countries. It was based on the fact that Budapest had signed up to all the anti-Russian sanctions and now had to comply strictly with them. In fact, it’s not that simple. Most likely, this decision was made after the Hungarian parliament voted for the ratification of Finland’s membership in NATO.

Budapest also has a special relationship with the United States. Prime Minister Viktor Orban, for example, gave a rousing anti-globalization speech last August 4 in Texas at the American Conservative Political Action Conference. He was personally invited by former Republican President Donald Trump. The Hungarian leader did not even ask to see Democrat Joe Biden at the White House.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, who by the way accompanied Orbán on his trip to the American South, explained that his country’s position strongly irritates Washington. According to him, the current U.S. government positions itself as an “unfriendly ally” to Hungary and acts “as an adversary.”

This is such a remarkable mesalliance.

In the international arena, however, Budapest continues to pursue a pragmatic policy focused on national interests.

Here are two recent examples.

At recent consultations, NATO countries again failed to agree on a common position on Ukraine’s accession to the alliance. Poland and the Baltic states insisted on offering Kiev “deeper ties with the bloc and conveying clear statements of support for its future membership.” According to insider information, who was against it? The list is indicative: the U.S., Germany, and Hungary, which joined them.

And more. Budapest blocked the publication of a joint statement of the European Union on the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Because of this position, EU Chief Diplomat Josep Borrell was forced to make a statement on the subject on his own behalf.

In other words, it is obvious that the Magyars are trying to sit on two chairs. On the one hand, they do not oppose their Western partners, led by the overseas sovereign, which, in fact, they strongly respect. On the other hand, economic relations with Russia are very important for Hungary.

Energy carriers are the main reason why it does not break ties. And it’s not just oil and gas. In 2014, for example, a Russian-Hungarian project was signed to build new power units 5 and 6 at the Paks NPP with reactor units based on the Russian advanced VVER-1200 design. And this autumn, Hungary intends to start building the Paks II nuclear power plant, for which Moscow has allocated 10 billion euros to Budapest.

Hungary has refused any military assistance to Ukraine for more than a year. This is due to a violation in Ukraine, as Budapest believes, of the rights of the Hungarian national minority, compactly living in Transcarpathia.

“I made it clear that the Hungarian position on the process of Ukrainian European integration will be determined mainly by whether Ukraine respects the rights of the Hungarian national community and whether it returns the rights to the Hungarian national community that it had before 2015,” said Peter Szijjártó.

In Ukraine, in particular, a number of laws on education and the state language were adopted, aimed at forcing national minority languages out of public life. The regulations primarily targeted the Russian language, but inadvertently infringed on the rights of other ethnic groups as well. As a result, ethnic Hungarians and representatives of other peoples were deprived of the opportunity to receive education in their native language.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, lessons in the Hungarian language have been reduced fivefold in Transcarpathia from the fourth grade of secondary school. A number of directors and teachers of national educational institutions have been dismissed.

“While we host children and students who fled Ukraine in 1,300 Hungarian schools and kindergartens, 99 Hungarian primary and secondary schools in Ukraine may be closed because of the education law,” Szijjártó stressed.

He also said that Ukrainian state institutions are willing to pay Transcarpathian Hungarians $850 annually to send their children to Ukrainian-language classes. Budapest considers such a step unacceptable.

The foreign minister noted that on the initiative of Hungary and Romania, the Council of Europe decided to address the Venice Commission on the situation of national minorities in Ukraine. Budapest hopes that Kiev will be forced to implement its decision.

What does it really mean to put Hungary on the list of “unfriendly countries”? The answer is simple: retaliation may be applied to Hungary.

Russian Ambassador to Hungary Yevgeny Stanislavov believes that Moscow and Budapest will keep the channels of dialogue open and continue cooperation in many areas. “We remain optimistic and even against this background we will strive for constructive interaction for the sake of preserving the baggage of positive achievements accumulated over the past years,” the Russian capital stressed.

Author: Igor Iavlianskiy

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