Historian: The Hungarian people won’t learn Chinese, just like they didn’t learn Russian – Hungary belongs to Europe
Even if Hungary were to leave the European Union or NATO in the coming years, the Hungarian people’s European identity would remain intact because its roots go far deeper than any political decision, historian Ignác Romsics stated on Magyar Hang’s program Kompország.
Romsics explained in Kompország that while a political decision could be made to withdraw from Western organisations, such a move would undoubtedly trigger alarm bells in people’s minds. The decision to join NATO and the European Union was legitimised through a referendum. According to Romsics, if Hungary were to consider turning its back on these institutions, the public would have to be consulted again.
“I am convinced that in such a scenario, the majority of Hungarians would choose Western and Central Europe over China and Russia, as that is where we have always belonged in spirit,”
he added.
He further noted that Hungary has always been a part of Europe, even during the 150 years of Ottoman rule and throughout the Kádár era. Despite compulsory Russian language education, people disliked it; they would have preferred to learn English or German. Hungarian youth did not gravitate toward Soviet films, but rather American ones. They wore jeans, drank Coca-Cola, and their behaviour reflected a Western orientation, not a Russian one.
Romsics also expressed doubt that the Hungarian people would embrace learning Chinese, despite the government’s growing ties with Beijing. While economic cooperation with China is possible, it poses challenges. Currently, over 70% of Hungary’s export-import activity is with the West. In contrast, only 1.3% of Hungary’s exports go to China, and 7% of imports come from there. In fact, Hungary’s entire trade with Asia accounts for less than 20% of its total foreign trade, he pointed out.
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1 Comment
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
From what I have seen the Chinese are quite good at learning Hungarian. They will be able to tell you what to do in your own language. What I would say to Romsics is that Russia is full of people drinking Coca-Cola and buying ever type of Western good you can find and those people have lived their lives in a society that brainwashes them to hate the West. Fidesz is doing the same in Hungary and all it takes is time. You can already see the difference in opinion polling on attitudes towards the US, the EU, Russia and Ukraine. My opinion is that 2026 is the point of no return should Fidesz win the election. The propaganda will continue and Hungarians will be taught that all of their problems are caused by the US, “Brussels” and NATO. Most people don’t access an alternative source of information other than Fidesz controlled media. If you only speak and read in Hungarian your world-view is completely controlled by “The Party”. The opposition will be ever more repressed and I think after 2026 if Fidesz wins you are going to see political dissidents jailed on phoney charges. It might start to happen even before then.